The Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transport and Corporation (SSACTAC) Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) branch has called on the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government to ban the ban the movement of petroleum products-laden trucks and container laded trucks from streets and residential areas within the state.
The Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transport and Corporation (SSACTAC) Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) branch has called on the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government to ban the ban the movement of petroleum products-laden trucks and container laded trucks from streets and residential areas within the state.
Scribe of the group, Comrade Akin Leosho in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week observed that the activities of the petroleum tanker drivers on the Apapa-Oshodi expressway have become a major headache to road users. He observed that between Mile 2 and the Tin Can Island Port, motorists can be held up in traffic for five hours.
According to him, some of the tanker drivers and container truck drivers now park their trucks on streets in Lagos and close to residential homes.
He called on government to stop the construction of warehouses and conversion of existing structures into warehouses within streets and around residential homes.
"It is only in Nigeria that you see trailers laden with containers as well as petroleum trucks entering streets. Where we have a proper town planning, warehouses are not supposed to be built in the streets", he pointed out.
Leosho called on government to fast-track the construction of pipelines to ensure the movement and distribution of petroleum product around the country.
According to him, America has a higher number of articulated trucks engaging in petroleum distribution than Nigeria and yet they are not usually noticed on the road.
"If we encourage the usage of pipelines, and if the rails are working, the rates at which we have tankers and heavy duty trucks on the road will reduce"
"Even in countries where we have more tankers than Nigeria, you hardly notice them as it is here, I don't think Nigeria has many tankers like America, they have pipelines and rails, but they still have articulated vehicles"
"You hardly see them because they are restricted, they carry the cargoes more at night, secondly, their roads are very good and trailers don't ply major highways, they have their own route, but in Nigeria everything goes", he stated.
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