Kayode Kolawole
The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, has revealed that the Tin-Can Island Port, TCIP and Lagos Port Complex, LPC, handles between 60 and 65 percent of cargoes coming into the country, a situation which may have contributed to the strain in the port’s infrastructure.
Bello-Koko made this known at the meeting organized by Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria, MARAN, in Lagos.
According to him, the reconstruction of the Tin-Can Island key wall was top on the agenda of the infrastructural renewal of the NPA which covers all ports across the country.
Koko who was represented by the General Manger, MD’s office, Ayo Durowaye, said: “These ports have been in existence since 1977. Between TCIP and LPC, in terms of volume, they are handling between 60 and 65 percent of cargo that are coming into the country, what we have in terms of effect on the facility is not something that is new, but what we are talking about is the steps that have been taken to ensure that we keep those facilities running.
“The reconstruction of the Tin Can Island key wall is top on the agenda of the infrastructural renewal of NPA which covers all ports across the country.
TCIP is one of the busiest in the country. Ports in Lagos are handling beyond their capacity in the last 20 years in terms of cargo handling. When you look at the pressure on them you expect that we should begin to do something about it and indeed we are doing something.”