Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — The port city of Apapa in the Apapa Local Government Area in Lagos State has been yearning for the attention of the state government.
The long established city plays host to two very active Seaports and many Tank Farms. The Seaports include the Tin Can Island Port and the premier Port at Apapa.
Needless to talk about the numerous corporate bodies including banks, industrial outfits, shipping companies that abound the whole length and breath of the city. But in the recent times, the Port city has been witnessing a lot of traffic upheavals.
Due largely to the absence of rail services that will facilitate easy movement of goods in and out of the ports. This has created a lot of traffic hurdles for vehicles too, as trailers, trucks and private cars are forced to get to their destinations by road.
This traffic mayhem has created nightmare for the residents of Apapa, especially around the Government Reserved Area (GRA). Daily, the residents are confronted with so many hazards, including environmental, security and infrastructural inadequacies.
Part of the environmental problems include blocked drainages which lead to excessive flooding of the whole of Apapa. This is apart from the fact that there is no gutter in some areas.
Apapa is also confronted with security threats. Because of the heavy vehicular traffic, Apapa hosts all sorts of persons that are addicted to crimes and criminalities. Miscreants are daily terrorizing the inhabitants of the Port city.
Coupled with all of these problems, Apapa is made up of so many failed roads, aside Port holes which make vehicular movements near impossible. These roads should be fixed as soon as possible in order to ensure free flow of vehicular traffic.
Also, there is need to construct road inter-changes and roundabouts in order to solve the myriad of problems confronting Apapa. Some of these roads are as old as the Port city itself. They are yearning for resurfacing.
Also, traffic lights should, as a matter of urgency, be installed at junctions to engender optimal traffic flow. The city has been seeking attention from the Federal Government of Nigeria as well as the Lagos state government.
Security has to be beefed up at the Waterside part of the city as a lot of miscreants access the GRA through the Ajegunle link Bridge. It goes without saying that the market at waterside also breeds security breaches at the GRA.
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