The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has alleged that tank farm operators along the Ibru axis do not have dedicated toilet facilities for tanker drivers, saying that this was why the drivers would continue to defecate and urinate openly on roads and the drainages.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, Auditor of the Lagos Zonal Council, Alhaji Korodo Taofiq lamented that even though some of the depots have toilet facilities in their premises, they restrict tanker drivers from using them.
He canvassed that, as the Coconut bus stop axis of the Apapa-Oshodi expressway is undergoing palliative measures, attention should be paid on constructing toilets and a bathroom for tanker drivers around the depot.
“The tank farms should provide toilets for our members, they should include it in the ongoing project, what the tank farms are saying is that they have toilets for our members at their depot, I asked them at a meeting recently if they (tanker drivers) are allowed to use the toilets an defecate and have their bath”
“Our members are complaining that they are not allowed by the tank farms to use their toilets, that is why you see them defecating in the gutter at night , but what we are saying now is that if the road is repaired, we want the whole environment to be free and clean”
“We have been arguing with the Ibru management over this toilet, I am surprised when they now claim that they have toilets inside the depot for drivers, but our drivers are saying that they are not usually allowed, and that even if they want to allow, it is for only those whom their truck is already inside the depot to load”, he lamented.
While stressing the need for toilets and bathrooms to be constructed for the drivers, Korodo argued that before the collapse of the Sunrise-Coconut expressway, the petroleum tank farms were loading about 3,400 trucks on daily basis. According to him, there are 17 tank farms inside the Ibru complex and each of the tank farm loads 200 trucks per day.
He stressed that, “In that Ibru axis, almost 17 depots are there, some of these depots, in a day, if the road is free, they can load over 200 trucks or more than that, but with the bad roads now, they cannot load up to that. And some of the drivers that do not get to load; they would have to sleep on the queue till the next day, because they struggled to get to that area. And for somebody that has stayed on the queue for two days, there is no way that he would not answer natures call”
Also speaking with Shipping Position Daily recently, Chairman, Committee of Directors at Ibru Complex, Mr. Sabitu Ajadi said that regulatory agencies in Lagos State such as Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) have all been deployed to the area to monitor activities of tanker drivers and to monitor the drainage system.
Ajadi noted that this was to ensure that the palliative measures being applied on the road would last longer.
Ajadi said that continuous dumping of parts of repaired vehicles on the road and tires in the drainage system would be seriously dealt with. He said that a committee has been formed to look into this.
"We would embark on continuous monitoring of the drainage system because no matter the repair on the roads, without the drainage it would collapse again"
"The law enforcement agents will be on ground to deal with anybody that refuses to comply with the rules and regulations. KAI, LAWMA, LASEPA would be invited, any environmental pollution caused by those putting refuse on the road, defecating in the gutter, putting parts of repaired vehicles on the road will be dealt with, we are going to form a committee to look into this"
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