22 September 2014, Lagos – The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has urged the Federal Government to relocate the tank farms to reduce the convergence of fuel tankers on the Apapa corridor.
The President of LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, made this call at the Corporate Assembly with Governor Babatunde Fashola, at the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos, adding that, there is need to fix the rail system to facilitate the evacuation of cargo from Lagos ports in order to reduce the use of the articulated vehicles and indirectly reduce carnage on Lagos roads.
“The Lagos ports have gained a reputation as one of the most expensive in the world, from the point of view of turn-around time of cargo to cost of clearing cargo.
There are issues with internal processes within the port; there are even bigger issues with the logistics of cargo movement outside the ports and to various destinations. All these have profound implications for the cost of doing business.
We appreciate your intervention in respect of the recent traffic gridlock along the Mile 2 Apapa corridor and more importantly your concern with rate of accident of articulated vehicles in the state” he said.
He noted that the Ebola virus has already it has taken its toll on business in a number of ways and has created a perception problem which has made many foreign investors to be wary of coming into the country; some projects have been put on hold because the foreign partners were no longer forthcoming, adding that, the hospitality industry witnessed some decline; the aviation sector also recorded a drop in Nigeria bound passengers.
“The good news is that the EVD is being effectively contained and the Lagos State government, working in conjunction with federal government did a salutary job. All cases of the EVD were narrowed to the index case of the Liberian that brought the virus into the country.
The containment strategies and efforts give us a lot of comfort and restored our people’s confidence that we have a government at work.
On behalf of the business community of Lagos State and indeed the residents we want to thank your Excellency for the successful containment of the dreadful EVD. But nonetheless, we cannot afford to be complacent.
We as a people should sustain the vigilance and adhere strictly to the advice of the health authorities on ways to minimize the exposure risk to the disease” he stated.
– Vanguard
