By Damiete Braide

Related News

The special adviser to the Lagos State government on transportation, Oluwatoyin Fayinka, has warned truck drivers to desist from indiscriminate parking of their heavy duty vehicles on Apapa roads and under bridges in the state or be prepared to face serious consequences.
The special adviser, who is also the chairman of the new traffic management enforcement team charged with ensuring free flow of traffic within Apapa and its environs, said those areas were not parking lots, warning that any truck parked on, or under, the bridges, would be towed by the traffic law enforcers.
Fayinka issued the warning recently in Alausa during the stakeholders meeting on how to ease the usual traffic hitches caused by heavy duty trucks and articulated vehicles in and out of Apapa and its environs.
Fayinka disclosed that Lagos State government has no intention of interfering with the operations of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) as the committee would rather concentrate on its mandate of enforcing the traffic law.
“ We are not bothered about the numerous trucks on the road, as long as they conform to the law. But, we will enforce the law and expect them to comport to the law. The team will ensure that trucks that do not have any business to do in Apapa, should not go there.”
He stated that bridges were built not as parking lots for tankers and trailers or mechanic workshops that would pour oil on the road that destroys the road after some time. He advised that, if a truck broke down on the road, the owner or driver should call tow-trucks to tow it off the road and to a mechanic workshop for it to be repaired.
Truck owners, according to him, should not repair their broken-down vehicles on the road because the state government is now determined to make roads accessible to all.
“These problems are surmountable and they are man-made. But, once there is determination, the team will not be deterred but will carry out their assignment effectively.
“ We have started these conversations with various stakeholders and the narrative is that some people would not say that we didn’t inform them which has been the language in Nigerian parlance. We have met other stakeholders in the past and it will continue so that when we start the enforcement, they will not say that they were not told.
He further disclosed the state government has provided seven new parks where truck drivers can park their trucks.
Addressing the forum, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, explained that the major role Police would play in this enforcement exercise is to give security back-up to the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority {LASTMA} operatives because the issue at hand is that of traffic constraint, or access roads to the port.
He recalled that he had served as the head of the enforcement team of the disbanded Federal Government Task Team on Apapa Gridlock, stating that they had worked assiduously to ensure movement, especially from Mile Two to Tin-can Apapa which was not passable before the team came on board.
“Now the disbanded team achieved its aim. Traffic control is part of the constitution of Lagos State and that is why the state government has taken it upon itself to address the issue with this team. The major agency for traffic control in Lagos State is LASTMA while FRSC {Federal Road Safety Corps {FRSC} is the major control agency at the federal level and the Nigeria Police Force is the father of all.”
As the new Traffic Management Enforcement Team prepares to swing into action, the Lagos State Government has been engaging the stakeholders on that axis in interactive sessions with a view to finding ways of resolving the traffic problems.
At the forum, it was agreed that the Police duty in the exercise is to give security back-up to government agencies that are enforcing the traffic and equally to the NPA which plans to commence the innovative call-up system.
One of the stakeholders, Okafor Steven, Deputy President, Council of Maritime Transport Unions & Associations {COMTUA} and General Manager Operations, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners {NARTO}, listed some of the problems militating against Apapa/Tin-can inland traffic and port operations.
According to Okafor, the problems included absence of container/truck holding bay by shipping companies and government, insufficient transit parks and priority of passage of branded trucks given by the security agents.
The COMTUA Deputy President also proffered some short-term solutions, like provision of more transit parks by the government, and the need for government to assist haulage operators with intervention fund for development of private garages in line with NPA standards, as well as to ease pressure on the port access roads.
Long-term solutions, according to him, include construction of dry ports along Lagos/Abeokuta rail corridor to ease pressure on Lagos ports, and the construction of truck holding bays at Epe and Ogun State border areas as this can go a long way to ease the congestion in Lagos, as well generate revenue to the state government.