…A.P. Moller fails to respond
Vincent Toritseju
10 August 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — THE Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, has issued a two weeks ultimatum to the management of the A.P. Moller, operators of the country’s biggest terminal to remove empty containers blocking the port access road or face its wrath.
In a swift reaction, Spokesman for A.P. Moller Terminal, Mr. Austin Fisher said that the ultimatum was misguided as the issue raised by the Union has no bearing on their operations.
In a letter signed by the Deputy Secretary General of the Union, Comrade Edwin Sambo, the group said that the blockage of the Apapa Port Access road with empty containers has rendered movement inside and outside the Port impassable with traffic always at a standstill.
Sambo said the blockage brought an unsafe working environment in and around the Apapa area,
Part of the letter reads “We are deeply concerned and seriously disturbed by the blockage of the Apapa Port Access road with empty containers in the quest for delivery at your terminal.
“The situation renders movement inside and outside the Port impassable with traffic always at a standstill.
“Economic and social activities within the area are also negatively affected by business at its lowest ebb.
“The security of lives and properties in and around the environment has deteriorated so much so that rape and brigandage have become the order of the day.
“Workers, Port users and the public in general trek long distance for hours before accessing the Port and their work place.
“It has compounded or worsened the already existing Apapa gridlock which the Lagos State and Federal Agencies are still battling to contain.
“The blockage also impedes the Federal Government Executive order of doing business with ease at the Nation’s Seaports.
“Consequently, your management is hereby given a fourteen (14) day Notice of Ultimatum from the date of this letter to put all necessary arrangement in motion to ensure that the blockage caused by the empty containers are totally cleared at the end of this notice for business and other port related activities to resume at the Port.
“Please be informed that we shall not be held liable for whatever action we might deem fit to take in the event of your refusal to get off the road your empty containers.”
Fisher also said that A P. Moller is not a traffic management firm neither is it a construction that has anything to do with the road.
He said “A. P Moller is not the only terminal operator in Apapa, so why are they directing the ultimatum to us.
“The ultimatum was not well thought out, why are they not giving the same ultimatum to the Federal Government, we are not the custodian of empty containers, the shipping companies handle container issues, that is why the charge container deposit fee and other container related charges.
“We are not going to respond to the ultimatum because there is no need for it”.
