LCCI chief calls for urgent palliatives to check gridlock on Apapa/Tin Can road

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said on Friday that the deplorable state of the Apapa/Tin Can Island Ports road required urgent palliatives to check the hardship faced by the people.

The President of LCCI, Mrs Nike Akande, made the appeal while speaking with journalists in Lagos.

Akande said that the deplorable state of the road and other adjoining roads had multifarious effects on the private sector, economy and the citizens.

According to her, Lagos ports account for over 60 per cent of imported cargoes and an estimated 70 per cent of the revenue accruing to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

“Several lives have been lost in recent past as a result of containers falling off trucks because of the bad roads.

“Importers pay high demurrage to terminal operators and shipping companies as a result of delay in the clearance and evacuation of cargoes in the ports.

“The bad road has also caused delays in getting raw materials and other inputs from the ports to factories in Lagos and other parts of the country,” Akande said.

The LCCI boss acknowledged steps being taken by the government to fix the roads but stressed that urgent palliatives were needed to ensure free vehicular movement and curtail the discomfort to the masses.

“Our quest for an improved economy and improved performance is not only for businesses and industries, but indeed for all Nigerians,” she said.

Akande noted that for the country to thrive and create jobs for its teeming population, there was need for a paradigm shift from a mono-economy to diversification, especially, into non-oil export.

She said that for the economy to sustain its momentum of recovery and positive outlook, there was also the need to check the multiple exchange rates and align procurement policies to support domestic investment.

According to her,the government needs to introduce tax and interest rate policies that are investment-friendly and trade policy that will reduce cost of operations across all sectors.