APM Terminals Denies Ownership of Empty Containers Blocking Apapa Traffic
Eromosele Abiodun
The Management of APM Terminals has said that it is not responsible for controlling traffic in Apapa and hence cannot be held liable for the gridlock in the area.
The company in a statement signed by its General Manager Communications, Augustine Fischer, stressed that like other stakeholders, it is a victim of the menacing Apapa gridlock.
Speaking against the background of a 14-day ultimatum issued by the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) asking it to rid the port access road of trucks bearing empty containers, APM Terminals said it neither controls traffic on the roads nor owns the trucks or empty containers on the road.
APM Terminals said its employees, service providers, contractors and customers have to go through the harrowing traffic experience every day, like every other person.
The company said: “We are aware APM Terminals is being accused as the cause of the traffic gridlock in the Apapa area and we would like to set the record straight. APM Terminals Apapa is as much of a victim of the traffic gridlock as everyone else. Our employees, service providers, contractors and customers have to go through the harrowing traffic experience every day.
“These employees are the ones that operate the equipment that service the trucks and would not by any means delay or stop servicing trucks unnecessarily as it would equate to ‘shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Several stakeholders have blamed the traffic gridlock on bad roads, poor traffic management, lack of truck parks and the lack of holding bays for empty containers by shipping companies. Following the chaotic situation caused by empty containers blocking intra and inter-city roads in Apapa, maritime workers in the country had given a 14-day ultimatum to APM Terminal to clear the roads of its empty containers.
In a letter addressed to the Managing Director of the Company signed by the Deputy Secretary General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Edwin Sambo, the union said the blocking of the roads with empty containers had caused untold hardship to maritime workers and Nigerians.