AMATO Threatens Withdrawal Of Service If…

The Association of Maritime truck Owners (AMATO) last
Wednesday asked the Lagos State Government to meet its executive members on the
new traffic law, or it would withdraw its services.

AMATO Chairman, Chief
Remi Ogungbemi told our correspondent in Lagos that it was pertinent for
government to meet with the truck owners before the implementation of the law.

Ogungbemi said that if after all their entreaties, the state
government went ahead to enforce the law as it is, and the environment proved
to be too harsh for their business, they would withdraw their services.

“The State government should look critically at the new
traffic law to ensure that it does not cripple the operation at the ports, and
thus the revenue to the nation.

“We know that the ports are the second major source of
revenue for the nation and trucks are the movers of the economy. The trucks
carry food items, construction materials and a host of other essentials.

“If we cripple the movement of the tucks, we are in effect
crippling the economy,” he said.

It would be recalled that on August 2, the state government
enacted a new traffic law prohibiting trucks from moving within Lagos
metropolis between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m

“We have been trying to hold a meeting with the state
government but they keep on telling us that it is not yet our turn, that they
are attending to people in batches.

“Our challenge with the new traffic law is that though the
policy is good, the timing is wrong.

Government wants to reform the transportation sector and we
are in full support, but you can’t put the cart before the horse.

“You ought to have put some infrastructure in place before
now.

“One of the infrastructures we are expecting is a place that
would be designated as a central truck park, such that at the time of the day
when the trucks are prohibited from working, the drivers can park the trucks
there,” Ogungbemi said.

He also said that another important issue was security.

Ogungbemi told our Correspondent that the association was
waiting for government to put the necessary machinery in place to safeguard the
lives of drivers and maintain the safety of goods on board the tucks.