‘Ports users deserve clean, healthy environment’

The need to keep the ports area clean and healthy has been stressed, as some key stakeholders in the Lagos Ports Complex embarked on a cleanup exercise to clear the heaps of refuse dumps littering the Apapa-Wharf and its environs.

Port users heaved a sigh of relief as APM Terminals Apapa, in partnership with the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), harped on a sustainable clean port environment.

Speaking shortly after the exercise, the Managing Director of APM Terminals Apapa, Martin Jacob, said port users deserve a clean and healthy environment and assured of his company’s commitment to achieving this goal.

Jacob said the Apapa cleanup initiative is part of the company’s 2019 annual ‘Go Green’ campaign, aimed at creating awareness on environmental degradation and encouraging sustainable waste disposal practices.

He charged port users to put an end to indiscriminate dumping of refuse on the port access road.

The Apapa Port Manager, Mrs. Fumilayo Olotu, who described the heaps of refuse in Apapa as an eyesore, said all hands must be on deck to restore the lost glory of the port city.

She said: “Apapa used to be a place of pride in those days, so activities around the port community should not make us lose the heritage we had in the past. We have discussed the need to partner with the Local Government to maintain the cleanness of our environment. We must engage the truckers and in their own language so that they have buy-in and key into the project so that the heaps of refuse do not return.”

Also, the Chairman of Apapa Local Government, Adele Owolabi, applauded APM Terminals for coming up with the initiative to clear the refuse dumps, which have littered the ports environs for months.

He said the heaps of refuse on the port access roads remain a major challenge for the Local Government, even as he appealed to other corporate organisations to take a cue from APM Terminals.

The Executive Director OF LAWMA, Ibrahim Ojuboni, while calling for the sustainability of the cleanup exercise, also lauded APM Terminals for the initiative, urging other firms to emulate the gesture.