By Godwin Oritse
SOME importers and licensed Customs agents at the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, have appealed to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, CCECC, the contractor handling construction of the rail line, to avoid disrupting the movement of containers in and out of the port.
The port users believe that any such disruption at the nation’s busiest seaport would further increase the cost of clearing and prices of goods in the market, worsen inflation in the country and compound the Apapa gridlock.
Last month, the importers and clearing agents said they were unable to conclude their transactions while loaded trucks were unable to exit the port when CCECC mobilised to site, blocked the container terminal truck exit gate and began demolition of structures in the terminal. The blockade also made it impossible for empty trucks to enter the terminal to pick up containers for delivery to their owners.
But today Somalia s once-lawless pirate towns are aiming for a more honest future - as freight ports.
Three of the most notorious pirate havens - Hobyo, Eyl and Garacad - are all now earmarked for port construction projects, which will let them cater to the shipping trade they once preyed upon.
It is hoped the ports will finally bring prosperity to the so-called pirate coast , which lies on one of the most remote and impoverished parts of Somalia. With this project, Somalia will firmly establish itself a key hub on the global maritime network, said Abdisabir Shurie, the minister of ports and fisheries for Somalia s Galmudug state, which is behind the Hobyo project.
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Some importers and licensed Customs agents at the Lagos Port Complex Apapa have appealed to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the contractor handling the construction of rail line at the port, to ensure that it does not disrupt the movement of containers in and out of the port with the planned demolition of the container terminal exit gate.
The port users believe that the disruption of the movement of containers at the nation’s busiest seaport will further increase the prices of goods in the market, worsen inflation in the country and compound the Apapa gridlock.
In November, the importers and clearing agents said they were unable to conclude their transactions while loaded trucks were unable to exit the port when CCECC mobilised to site, blocked the container terminal truck exit gate and began demolition of structures in the terminal. The blockade also made it impossible for empty trucks to enter the terminal to pick up containers for delivery
Somalia s pirate coast to develop international ports with foreign money
Ports that once preyed on passing shipping earmarked for projects designed to end decades of poverty
A pirate on the shore of Hobyo in 2012
Credit: AP
A decade ago they were the buccaneering capitals of the 21st century, haunts of modern-day Blackbeards armed with Kalashnikovs rather than cutlasses.
Today, Somalia s once-lawless pirate towns are aiming for a more honest future - as freight ports.
Three of the most notorious pirate havens - Hobyo, Eyl and Garacad - are all now earmarked for port construction projects, which will see them cater to the shipping trade they once preyed upon.