Governor
Babatunde Fashola of Lagos, on Sunday said the state taskforce on environmental
and other special offences and the Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) would
be deployed to bring sanity to the road traffic situation in Apapa.
This
follows the governor’s second visit to Apapa in one week, after reports that
there had been no improvement in the traffic situation since his last visit on
Sunday July 6. During that visit, the governor had held dialogue with
stakeholders including fuel tanker drivers and tank farm owners, advising them
to conduct their businesses in a manner that would cause minimum disturbance to
others.
During
his visit to Apapa yesterday, Fashola said
the continued haulage of petroleum
products by road was taking a toll on the nation’s economy and that there were
signs that it would bring Apapa, which is home to the country’s two busiest sea
ports to a halt, if nothing was done.
Fashola
said rail transportation would be a more efficient means of haulage of
petroleum products from the ports.
The
governor’s assertion comes as several relocation notices are seen pasted on
business premises, leading to increasing property vacancy in Apapa; a direct
consequence of relentless gridlocks within the once sought after neighborhood.
The congestion at present is being worsened by the terrible state of roads
entering and exiting Apapa, especially the Trinity/Coconut/Tincan axis, where
some sections of the supposed express road have split into two.
Fashola
blamed the situation on the federal government’s failure to properly manage
fuel distribution and the ports.
The
governor who met officials of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners
(NARTO) and Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) as well as port
managers, said: “This is a port and fuel distribution problem. What I do not
understand is why the federal government would allow things to deteriorate this
bad.
“
All the major roads here are federal roads. By sheer mismanagement of the
ports, the federal government has paralysed the Apapa industrial area.
“In
a truly federal system, we should get derivation from the ports. Oil producing
states get derivation but we pay the price for fuel haulage and mismanagement
of the ports. Ninety percent of fuel in this country is distributed through
Apapa, with Lagos paying the price for it,” Fashola said, adding “this cannot
continue”.
The
governor said the federal government must rise to the challenge of fixing the
roads, efficient management of the ports, and better option of fuel
distribution in the country, to put a stop to the damage being done to the
economy and the Lagos environment.
Aloga
Ogbogo, general manager administration, of NARTO, who met with the governor in
front of Apapa port, said part of the problem in Apapa was the lack of
sufficient cargo handling equipment by the port concessionaires and long
documentation processes. According to him, the consequence of this is that it
takes longer to load trucks within the
ports and therefore trucks entering the ports must queue up on the roads.
Also
speaking, Remi Ogungbemi, president of
maritime trucks owners, said sections of the port which served as
parking lots for trucks had been given out to private businesses, following the
concession. Ogungbemi however appealed for Fashola’s intervention on a 50
hectare piece of land near Mile 2, which he said if secured, was large enough
to accommodate trucks meant for Apapa and Tin can ports.
BusinessDay
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