CLEANING OF APAPA PORT CORRIDOR MUST START NOW TO FORESTALL DOUBLE JEOPARDY
By Mcanthony Onuoha
While we still bask in the euphoria of seamlessly driving to Apapa after the Lagos State Government, in collaboration with other agencies, opened up the corridor for commuters, there is urgent need to evacuate heaps of rubbish that have blockaded the drainage system before we delve into the rainy season proper.
For over ten years, tanker and truck drivers were spending weeks on that corridor ,eating, defecating and bathing by the roadsides. While tankers are on the queue to access petroleum depots to lift products, truckers queued up to access container terminals to return empty boxes.
Besides, hawkers and food vendors saw no reason of orderly conducting themselves since there was no established tradition of sanity, they littered the road unhindered and even joined the occupants in open defecation.
As Lagos State Government and its collaborators are still being showered with praises for the noble feat, there is need to urgently commence evacuation and thorough clean up of the corridor, if not, there will be a case of double jeopardy once we step into the rainy season proper.
Why we should expect double jeopardy on the corridor if the cleaning exercise does not commence immediately is that the route will be flooded due to total blockade of the drainage system.
Apart from imminent flood, the collaboration must also know that any road that does not have a good drainage system has the tendency of not lasting long and we are talking of salt water that is not supposed to be sedentary on the road. It needs to be channelled to a collection system as Flood is capable of shortening the life span of every road no matter how sophisticated it is, there must be rapid tear and wear, and whereby the road is not well built the entire surface can be washed away completely by flood.
If the collaboration is poised to enthroning sanity on the corridor, the cleaning has to start immediately so that the filth will not compound the drainage problem.
Apapa port is a premiere port and the largest in West and Central Africa that accounts for over 75% of import goods. The port infrastructure should not be allowed to rot away, there must be an established tradition of sanity.
Again, l am drawing the attention of the collaboration to the filth on Apapa Port corridor, the stench of human waste that litter both sides of the road can trigger an epidemic within the port community, it is something to worry about as it does not paint a good picture of the port industry and the nation at large. Let the cleaning begin immediately because the rains are already here .
