Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Monday said the Lagos State Government had started the process of taking over the operations of the Presidential Task Force on Port Decongestion that had been managing the gridlock in the Apapa area.

He spoke during a fact-finding visit to the community.

It was the fourth time Sanwo-Olu and members of the state cabinet would be visiting the Apapa area over traffic congestion, which had impacted negatively on businesses and lives.

A statement said during the physical assessment of the situation that allowed heavy-duty trucks to clog up the access roads, a blame game ensued between stakeholders operating within and around the Apapa ports.

While the Committee of Freight Forwarders and Maritime Truckers (COFFAMAT) blamed the Nigerian Ports Authority, Presidential Task Force on Port Decongestion, and the police for the corruption that allowed truck drivers to park indiscriminately on the road, the Council of Maritime Transport Union and Association absolved the police and the task force, accusing COFFAMAT, truck drivers and other stakeholders of not playing by the rules.

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A customs licensed clearing and forwarding agent, Mr Boniface Okoye, was said to have blamed customs officers for giving undue access to the shippers’ council to leave empty containers in the port areas, while also faulting the police for looking away after allegedly collecting kickbacks.

Sanwo-Olu, however, intimated the stakeholders of the state government’s plan to checkmate activities of all operators that led to the problems.

He said, “Our plan is to bring about a cohesive system where all stakeholders will understand their roles and resolve challenges being encountered. Since last year, the presidential task force has been working on this issue. Now, there is a process that is starting in which the state government is taking over the task force. This is one of the reasons for this trip to Apapa today; to ascertain what needs to be done. We will have a team of policemen and LASTMA dedicated to Apapa ports for enforcement of task force’s mandates.”