The attention of Federal Government has been drawn to the indiscriminate parking of tankers laden with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS),on the service lane on Apapa- Oshodi expressway, close to the parks were fairly-used vehicles are sold.
The automobile dealers who disclosed this to Auto Port Weekly expressed worries over the development describing it as a threat to their business, the immediate community and Lagos state in particular.
The attention of Federal Government has been drawn to the indiscriminate parking of tankers laden with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS),on the service lane on Apapa- Oshodi expressway, close to the parks were fairly-used vehicles are sold.
The automobile dealers who disclosed this to Auto Port Weekly expressed worries over the development describing it as a threat to their business, the immediate community and Lagos state in particular.
Investigations conducted by our correspondent have also revealed that sale of vehicles have been hampered by the long queue of the tankers along the Mile 2 to Coconut axis of the road where vehicles sales are common.
Speaking on the development, Director, Sunrise Motor Dealers Association, Pastor Uzor Andrew called on the concerned authorities to move the tankers out of the vicinity after loading their trucks with PMS.
According to him, Apapa community is most vulnerable and exposed to danger because of the highly inflammable tank farms and there is the need to clear tankers that are laden with petroleum products from the expressway, most especially some of the park where sales of vehicles thrive along the service lanes.
The dealer also noted that vehicles on display along the expressway, are worth about N2 trillion, adding that, “if the place should go up in flames, it will lead to massive loss”.
He pointed out that automobile dealers currently, live in fear because of the risk involved in the process of discharging the content in kegs and jerry cans, for small-scale sales.
The director noted that some the customers and buyers of vehicles, who have noticed the process of discharging the content into kegs have vowed never to come to some of the parks where such things are a common place.
Uzor stressed that the most of the dealers depend solely on the sales of vehicles, adding that it is their only source of livelihood and they don’t want anything that will make them to run at a loss in the quest to make ends meet.
He said that, “from Mile 2 to the port, we have traffic gridlock which is a major threat to us, the maritime community and Apapa in general, but our greatest fear for now is the way and manner in which the tankers are positioned along the service lane after loading “
“And with the on-going security challenges faced in the country entails that guerilla warfare can lead to havoc at any point in time, if such situation is not properly managed because we (the car dealers) at Sunrise and environs are living in fear and we need urgent attention of the concerned authorities to look into it’’, he said.
He recommended that after loading, the tankers should not be found on the service lane, rather they should move from the automobile market where sales of vehicles are highly concentrated.
Speaking further the dealer decried; “why should the tankers park in front of the banks, why should they park at the police station and why must they park at the market where vehicles are sold, my recommendation is that after loading petroleum products from their respective tank farms, they should move out of the Apapa environment to other places like Ogere and other parts of Ogun State that are safer”.
Also lamenting,the Chairman Caretaker Committee, Freedom Park Motor Dealers Association; Mr. Kenneth Nwosu decried the government’s negligence of the road, even as he added that the number of tankers that are stuck in traffic is a threat to sale of vehicles.
Nwosu said that the government needed to act fast and clear the road because customers are afraid to ply the route, linking to where the vehicles are sold.
He added that sale of vehicles have dropped because of the gridlock and that some of his members; have not been able to do business at the automobile market.
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