The Federal Government on Monday promised to support SIFAX Group in achieving the vision of its newly-opened container terminal in Lagos.
The Director, Maritime Services, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr Auwalu Suleiman, said this during an assessment visit to the new terminal in Lagos.
Recall that SIFAX Group on Oct. 7 inaugurated a container terminal at Ijora to address the challenge of traffic congestion around the Lagos ports.
Suleiman who expressed the committee’s satisfaction with the facilities said that government would support the company in realising its vision.
He lauded the company for the huge vision it had set for the inland container depot.
He said: “We are here at the instance of the Minister of Transportation, to inspect the terminal and make sure that it conforms to all the relevant requirements stipulated by law in setting up an inland container terminal.
“So far, we are impressed with the standards you have set in terms of space, equipment, facilities, your vision and future plan.
“It is also our intention to recommend to the government that this terminal should be adopted as a model for all future off-docks that will be sited in Nigeria,” he said.
Suleiman promised that all the needs and complaints of the company would be forwarded to the relevant authorities for immediate action.
Earlier in his welcome address, Dr Taiwo Afolabi, Group Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group, said that the terminal’s concept and design were in line with the group’s existing business plan.
Afolabi, represented by Capt. Ibraheem Olugbade, Executive Director, SIFAX Off Dock, said that the plan involved continuous expansion, proffering solutions, growing improvements in the maritime sector and the logistics value chain, among others.
The committee is made up of officials from the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigerian Shippers Council, Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and National Inland Waterways. (NAN)
