The Lagos State Government on Monday announced the
suspension of approval for development of tank farms in Apapa as part of its
renewed effort to restore sanity completely as well as fashion out immediate
and long term solution along the Oshodi-Apapa expressway and prevent a repeat
of the chaos caused by containerised trucks and tankers parked on the road.
Rising from a closed-door meeting with stakeholders
in the maritime and transport sectors, including Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA),
Shippers Council, Tank Farm Owners, Department of Petroleum Resources, security
agencies and Clearing and Forwarding agents, held at the Lagos House in Alausa,
Ikeja, and chaired by State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the state government
also resolved to accelerate and complete work on the Bola Ahmed Tinubu trailer
park in Orile within the next one month.
The state Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Ladi
Lawanson, who briefed Government House correspondents on the resolutions
reached after the meeting which lasted for over three hours, said all
stakeholders had resolved to work together to bring back sanity on the Apapa
axis and would therefore not hesitate to sanction recalcitrant operators who
flout the resolutions going forward.
Lawanson, who was joined at the briefing by the
Managing Director of NPA, Mrs. Hadiza Bala-Usman; Secretary to the State
Government (SSG), Mr. Tunji Bello, and other stakeholders, said a Security Task
Force has been constituted by the federal and the Lagos State government and
would work continuously for 30 days to bring sanity to the roads, while shipping
companies sanctioned for non-compliance on utilisation of holding bays in the
ports have been extended by five days.
He said that to also cushion the effect of the
traffic experienced by motorists in the area, the Federal Ministry of Power,
Works and Housing would immediately commence palliative measures on bad
portions on access roads.
“The Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) is to
ensure that tank farms owners comply with holding bay requirements, while
trailers not called upon and found trampling on the law will be impounded and
sanctioned in Lagos.
“With immediate effect, Lagos State Government has
suspended the approval of tank farms and the government is going to accelerate
the completion of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu trailer park and it in should be ready
within a month,” Lawanson said.
The state government also directed that all truck
and tanker owners must be duly registered and well regulated by their unions,
adding that the unions would be held accountable for their adherence to extant
rules and regulations.
“The NPA in collaboration with the state government
will licence trailer parks whereby only trucks housed in those designated parks
will be granted access. Furthermore, tank farms without adequate loading bays
within the next 30 days will be sanctioned.
“These resolutions were arrived at and agreed by
all parties, and all parties have resolved to jointly implement these
resolutions and the effects will be seen by Nigerians very shortly,” the commissioner
said.
Prior to the meeting, it would be recalled
that the state government had last week
set up a Joint Task Force involving security agencies and stakeholders in the
maritime sector to remove all containerised trucks and tankers parked along the
Apapa axis.
Tagged: 'Operation Restore Sanity On Lagos Roads’,
the Task Force involving 2,271 personnel drawn from the police, Lagos State
Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency
(LASEMA), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Road
Safety Commission (FRSC), and Nigerian military moved into the area last Friday
in an operation that lasted for over 72 hours to open up the service lane in
the axis to ease traffic.
No comments:
Post a Comment