As companies along the Apapa-corridor continue to count their losses due to the perennial traffic congestion on the route. The management of Dangote Group has revealed that its salt and sugar arm of the group lose about ₦ 2 billion monthly which is caused by the perennial traffic gridlocks on the Apapa ports road.
According to the company’s traffic manager, Muhamadu Rabiu said the company was losing so much because of its inability to lift products from its depot at the port caused by traffic congestion.
Muhammad, however, refuted claims that Dangote trucks were among those constituting nuisance on the road noting that Dangote’s transport unit only sends out a specific no of trucks that have business to do at the port.
In his words:
“Any single Dangote truck seen on the road is needed in the port. You will never see repair work being done on Dangote truck by the side of the road or on the bridges,” he said.
However, the good news is that business tycoon and President, Dangote Group of Companies, Aliko Dangote, has assured that the ongoing Apapa-Wharf Road reconstruction project would be completed on schedule in June this year.
The business mogul said people were unaware of the revenue loss caused by the deplorable condition of the road that leads to the nation’s busiest port before now, explaining that the cost of the gridlock to the economy was 20 times the cost of the road project.
Recall that the Dangote Group, Flour Mills of Nigeria and the Nigerian Ports Authority had last year signed a memorandum of understanding on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Apapa Port Wharf Access road through Corporate Social Responsibility.
The company traffic manager, however, advised the Nigerian Ports Authority to introduce a tallying system for truck drivers, adding that any truck on Lagos roads without carrying tally should be turned back.
