We Spend Over 20 Days To Access Port Facilities Now, In A Trip Supposed To Take A Day- NARTO Boss

In this interview with with Dili Utomi, . Alhaji Sani Abubakar,  Chairman, National Association Of Road Transport Owners(NARTO), Berger Suya Unit and CEO Dan Maigari Radda Trading Company bares his minds on the terrible bad shape of Port access roads and the how it has imparted negatively on the transporters and the economy.

Excerpts;

The major problem we are facing here as transpoerters obviously is the bad road. We have been sitting and watching the road get worse, but there has been some construction work going on here in an attempt to repair the road over the past six months.

But unfortunately the construction firm suddenly stopped and the situation has not improved traffic.   I do not know why work has stopped.

Initially, it used to take us about a day or two to access the port and load our trucks, but now it takes between thirty to forty days to access the same port facilities. Also returning the empty containers takes the same amount of time.

 For me now, I get just about one business or one trip in one month, but I do not know about others.

 Yes, that is what I just said, some people are doing like 2 or 3 trips a month, but not people like us. The people who do 2 or 3 trips know their way and how they navigate, but for those of who are willing to do the right thing, we do not gain easy access. When the road was good, we used to make up to twenty trips a month.

 I do not really know, the government has given the go ahead for the road to be fixed, but I really think that there is an interest somewhere that does not want the situation to improve.  This is a situation that most people are aware of, but I would like you the Press  to investigate and find out what the problem is alll about.

I want to actually make a passionate appeal to the people involved in making the situation of the road to remain this way, whether they are in government or in the private sector, I want to tell them that millions of people in this country are suffering the cumulative effects of the bad road. I appeal to them to stop all the terrible things they are doing  to make life difficult for us all.

Nobody has ever envisaged that we will ever take up to twenty days to access the ports, never.

 The bad roads are now everywhere and both the federal and state governments have the responsibilities to fix these roads, we shall continue to appeal that they come alive to their responsibilities. End