A salt firm situated at Lagos port has employed no fewer than 5000 Nigerians. The firm, Royal Salt Company Limited, which is located at Kirikiri Lighter Terminal I (KLT), Apapa, Lagos, is a tenant to Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Besides the over 5,000 Nigerians on its payroll, the firm also provides indirect employment opportunities for many Nigerians who do business with it directly or indirectly.
Managing Director of the firm, Mr. Nuthalapati Mahendra, disclosed this in Lagos when the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, paid an unscheduled visit to see things for himself at the company premises. He explained that the company, being one of the tenants of NPA, has been in existence for over 18 years.
According to Mahendra, the firm was not only producing quality products but also providing employment opportunities for Nigerians.
Umar, in his response, hailed the strides made by the company since it started operations in the port. He expressed happiness that some companies in the private sector have not only been producing quality products but also creating job opportunities for the citizenry.The Minister argued that such companies in the private sector are championing the vision of the present administration, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, which encourages public and private sector co-operation.
Umar, who was in KLT 1 as part of his unscheduled inspection tour of ports facilities in the Lagos area, said the activities of the company was in furtherance to the spirit of the present administration’s resolve on quality of locally produced goods and services as well as job creation.
The Minister, who was accompanied on the inspection tour by management of NPA led by the Managing Director, Malam Habib Abdullahi, also inspected the Lagos Channel Management Limited (LCML) facilities where he sighted the already-removed wrecks at its dumpsite.
He was also informed by the management of LCML that efforts were being made to ensure that other critical wrecks were removed for smooth entry and exit of ships within the Lagos channel.
At the Apapa Dockyard, Umar and his team also inspected some of the newly acquired crafts (tugboat and pilot cutters) that arrived recently to the port from the manufacturers. He also inspected the progress work on the rail tracks being constructed within the port to boost intermodal transport.Umar later had an interactive session with some terminal operators and members of truck owners with other top management of NPA.
