Parking Of Trucks On Ports Roads Worries Stakeholders …NUPENG Wants Truck Holding Bay

The perennial gridlock on Mile 2 -Apapa Expressway, Lagos, which makes Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports inaccessible to users, is being caused by indiscriminate parking of trucks.

Stakeholders made the remark in interviews with newsmen last Thursday in Lagos.

The stakeholders urged the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to enforce the laws.

The Chief Executive Officer of Interlard Transport Company Ltd., Mr Joseph Adikwu, said that constant parking of trucks waiting to either load or drop empty containers had been responsible for the gridlock.

“We are aware that a greater portion of the road is bad but we can still make the best of the situation if human errors are curtailed.

“The whole length of the road from Sunrise Bus Stop to Liverpool Bridge is filled with waiting trucks.

“One begins to wonder if proper regulation is enforced and offenders meant to pay dearly for the discomfort they create for road users, things will come to normal,’’ Adikwu said

Mrs Tessy Obi, a member of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Coconut Apapa chapter, said that provision of a truck holding bay would stop the disorder.

She said that the lack of a truck bay in Apapa was hindering the flow of business, adding that many motorists now dread going through Apapa.

“Many tankers waiting to load petroleum products from the tank farms in Apapa queued on the roads.

“The situation will be a lot better with the provision of a trailer bay for vehicles to stay and wait for their turn to load.

“It is a disorder for drivers whose loading or dropping documents are still being processed to block the roads and create hardship for other road users,’’ Obi said.