In a bid to nip in the bud
the ugly phenomenon of traffic gridlock along the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Onne Port Complex, Rivers State, the management recently embarked on a road show to sensitise truck owners and drivers on the security implications of parking indiscriminately along the access road to the port in Onne.
In a statement made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt, the port manager, Mr. Durowaiye Ayodele said the move was to tackle the challenge of criminality and indiscriminate truck packing along the access road to the port complex.
He expressed concern that trucks parked indiscriminately often become a haven for hoodlums who hide and attack unsuspecting members of the public who are at the port to do business.
According to him, the road show tagged, “Operation Free Onne Port Roads, No parking, No waiting and No loitering” was to sanitise the port access road of not only the nuisance caused by the trucks, but also the threat to lives and property of all stakeholders using the access road.
The Port Manager noted that the indiscriminate parking of trucks from the port’s Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) Junction to Notore fertilizer and chemical roundabout was a proactive measure to tackle the ugly traffic gridlock in the nearest future, adding that, “The NPA management in their foresight envisaged the menace and traffic logjams in the port as it is happening now.
Ayodele further stated that after the clearing of the port access road, women of the host communities would be deployed to sweep the roads daily as part of the ports’ corporate social responsibility, assuring that with the co-operation of the communities and other stakeholders, the objective would be achieved.
To ensure enforcement, he disclosed that NPA officials particularly from the security department, the port police, the Onne Police Division and all other security agencies would work in synergy to enforce the decongestion exercise with the port’s traffic management in conjunction with the host communities systems would be integrated for a thorough job.
The Onne port boss hinted that the management has acquired a Hiace truck and a towing truck purchase by the trailer operators to enable the taskforce carry out their assignments, warning that any truck owner that fails to comply after the sensitisation would be subjected to pay heavy fine.

Collins Barasimeye