Residents jittery over approval for 2nd container terminal at Kirikiri Canal

About a year after granting a container terminal operating license to Odus Divine Connection, ODC, along Vanguard Avenue on Kirikiri Canal which has a single lane road, Vanguard Maritime Report can authoritatively report the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, and the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA have again licensed another terminal along the same route.

Vanguard gathered that the new terminal, Terminal and Cargo Limited, TCL, has commenced construction work after acquiring property around the area for about N200 million.

Vanguard gathered that officials of the NPA, NCS, and NIWA mostly from their headquarters are already in Lagos for Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA, ahead of the final approval.

Some occupants, mainly businesses and artisans in the neighbourhood who spoke with Vanguard said they expect more environmental hazards questioning why such license would be granted to a container terminal in a location with such a small road and many companies.

They complained that it is already difficult for them to move with one terminal in operation, and asked “what will happen if the other one commences operation.”

At a meeting held close to the ODC terminal on Friday last week, an official of TCL said the meeting was called to get the buy-in of the stakeholders around the area to meet the requirement for the EIA which will lead to the granting of the license.

At the time of writing this report about 10 trucks belonging to the ODC, functional and broken down are parked along the single-lane road making vehicular movement difficult.

While the broken down trucks are being fixed right there on the road, the others are parked there awaiting businesses.

The National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Timi Bomodi, said it is not in Customs’ position to determine the impact of such facility on the environment.

Bomodi said what the Customs look out for is whether there is a motorable road to the facility and if the necessary cargo handling equipment are available.

He said it is the duty of the Lagos State government to decide if such a facility can be sited there. (Vanguard)