Link ports with rail, govt urged
The Federal Government has been urged to link the Lagos ports, six Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Container Freight Stations (CFS) across the country by rail.
An industrialist Mr Muyiwa Olabintan made the call in Lagos when he visited the port.
He bemoaned a situation where importers used trucks to move their goods from the ports.
The maritime expert told The Nation that the ICDs and CFS would be more effective if they were linked by rail.
Olabintan, who is also the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the House of Representative in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area of the state, said an effective rail system would ease the movement of goods and persons from the Lagos ports to other parts of the country.
He said the ports were connected by rail, they would help to decongest the Lagos ports, whose facilities and the adjourning roads, he said, had been overstretched.
Olabintan said he was happy that the Federal Government was planning to build deep seaports in Badagry, urging the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to adopt the programme if elected.
“Aside from creating more job opportunities for Nigerians, the linkage will increase the cargo throughput (imports and exports) of the ports and make it attractive for business.
“The seaports will be to the advantage of Nigerian importers and exporters if they receive bigger vessels, discharge more cargoes if the Badagry deep seaport is developed.
“But another problem would be created if the government fails to link the deep seaport by rail,’’ Olabintan said.
He claimed the non-engagement of indigenous shipowners in coastal and inland shipping, otherwise called cabotage, had rendered thousands of seafarers jobless.
Olabintan said there was need to build the shipping industry with indigenous workers.
He said policy makers should make adequate projections for the the industry.
The APC candidate said of the 4,000 seafarers in the country, only 2,500 were registered with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
“Of the 2,500 registered, over half of them are on the streets of our major cities such as Lagos doing nothing,’’ he added.
He said the seafarers were unemployed because the indigenous shipowners who could have accommodated them were not engaged because of the poor implementation and enforcement of Cabotage law.
Olabintan advised NIMASA to enforce the Cabotage Act to create jobs for both the seafarers and indigenous ship owners.
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