As part of the preparations for the commencement of the ban on the importation of articulated trucks that are over 10 years old into the country, the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), has said that for effective implementation of the policy, government should establish banks saddled with the responsibility of assisting truckers with loans to enable them acquire fairly-new trucks.
Chairman of Dry Cargo Section of NARTO, Alhaji Abdul Inuwa, said this in a chat with Shipping Position Daily last week in Lagos.
He also expressed disappointment with the way banks treat truckers whenever they need assistance from banks in the form of loans.
He explained that: “If the government is sincere with phasing- out trucks that are above 10 years old from the year of manufacturing, they have to start demonstrating it right from now. I think they have to establish a bank where they can be assisting the truck owners, but you will see now that truck owners won’t have assistance in terms of loans to get these things. When you go to the bank and request for a loan to get a truck and once they find out that you are a trucker, they will just turn down your offer”.
“If the government says they want to stop trucks that are above 10 years old, it means that the government has to come in to create an atmosphere where the truck owners can be assessing loan”, he argued.
Inuwa, also called on the assembly plants in the country to be empowered more to enable them assemble more vehicles especially, trucks for easy access for truckers, even as he maintained that until all these things are in place, the policy might be difficult to implement even in 2020.
“They also have to empower our local assembly plants so that they will have more production especially, trucks. In that 2020, I don’t see the possibility of the government phasing- out trucks above 10 years within that time frame. The government should also have a long term policy that will not affect people that are importing and exporting, by so doing it will not affect the turnover”, he concluded.
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