Mr Aloga Ogbogo, National Executive Secretary, National Association of Road Transport Workers (NARTO), has said the best solution to the constant gridlocks at Apapa and its environs was to establish holding bays for the articulated vehicles.
Ogbogo gave the advice in an interview on Friday in Lagos.
He said that part of the reasons trucks were parked along the expressway was the lack of holding bays by most of the tank farms at Apapa area.
“The best solution to the challenges of gridlocks at the Apapa ports is to establish holding bays for the articulated vehicles.
“About 60 tank farms are situated at Apapa in addition to ports that attract vessels that carry imported goods and each of the tank farms has the capacity to load between 100 to 150,000 tankers daily.
“Apapa is hosting premier ports like Wharf and Tin Can which generate lots of cargoes and there is a provision of holding bay at the original master plan of the ports but now there is nothing like that in the area,’’ he said.
According to him, the removal of the trucks and tankers on the road by the Lagos State Government would result to scarcity of petrol.
The NARTO scribe said that regulatory agencies should be blamed for the menace of gridlocks, adding that the activities of the tankers and trucks were more of a national service to prevent scarcity of the essential products.
“The vehicles queue up to load the products since there are no holding bays to accommodate the trucks while waiting for their turns,’’ he said.
Ogbogo said that tank farms should be mandated to have holding bays where the trucks would park while waiting to load products.
According to him, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) should mandate tank farms to have holding bays where trucks hibernate to load products before they move out.
“So, when you see trucks on the road queuing, it is due to lack of holding bays to accommodate them at the depot,’’ he added.
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