Africa’s biggest automobile market; United Berger Motor Dealers Association of Nigeria (UBMDAN), has decried the indiscriminate parking of trucks and trailers along the Apapa Oshodi expressway.
Speaking to Shipping Position Daily after the stakeholders meeting held in Lagos last week, President of the association; Metche Nnadiekwe said that the bridges were not constructed to park trucks and trailers.
He said that some of the trucks that are parked there are just there for the sake of parking there.
“We had a meeting where all the stakeholders were invited and the agenda was still on the trailers and tankers which litter almost all the bridges in Lagos. They know the life span of the bridges, they were not constructed for these heavy trucks to be parking on for days and weeks, it is not safe for us, it is a time bomb. So the meeting was that they were given 48 hours to vacate all the trucks and tankers on the roads. Some of these trucks don’t have anything to do on the road; they are just there for anybody that can come and hire then to go for work and it is wrong. I have never seen anywhere in the world where things are done like this. It is a very big embarrassment and it has affected our market so much people no longer come around. Businesses around here are being cut-off; they have covered the whole road”
He applauded the meeting, saying that a committee has been set up to investigate the cause of the indiscriminate parking on the bridges, even as he said that offenders will pay the sum of N500, 000 per truck.
“So it is welcomed idea for the meeting to be convened by the Navy where the military, police, civil defence and other security agencies were present. A committee was set up that day to look for the best way to tackle this matter and make these trucks to get off road. The committee comprised of the NPA, NUPENG, and all the Local Government chairmen are involved. The committee was asked to arrange how these vehicles will leave the road and they will be starting their meeting on Monday”.
“They (trucks) are an embarrassment to this nation and more so some of these vehicles are owned by the elites of this country. They are embarrassing this nation with what they are doing; if a foreigner visits this country what is happening here will affect the respect the person has for this country”.
“If the committee comes out with the modus operandi and you don’t remove your vehicle within the time limit, you are expected to pay N500, 000 as a fine for each truck arrested. Therefore, I am of the opinion that the committee should hasten action immediately to ensure that these things stop”, he concluded.
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