Drivers Demand Trailer Park Along Eleme-Bori Road

Following the incessant road congestion experienced along Eleme-Bori road, commercial drivers have urged the Rivers State Government to build an alternative trailer park that would accommodate tankers and trucks that have been identified as major causes of the congestion on the road.
The Tide investigation revealed that due to lack of trailer park along the route, tankers and trailers resort to parking on both sides of the road, causing road congestion and traffic gridlock.
Apparently frustrated by this congestion, commercial drivers plying the route have appealed to the state government to provide an alternative trailer park that would accommodate trailers and tankers, and thus reduce the rate of road side parking by drivers.
Speaking to The Tide, a Bori bound commercial driver, Barile Deekor said the congestion was as a result of the indiscriminate parking on both sides of the road by tanker and truck drivers, in addition to numerous potholes along the road.
He said the gridlock at times caused delay for as much as two to three hours and in a way affected the daily financial turnover of the drivers.
Also speaking with our correspondent, Edet Udom, a commercial bus driver said “our vehicles keep breaking down, and it costs us some extra expenses to maintain the vehicles due to bad road, especially from Eleme junction to trailer park.
“People (drivers) are running one way and this has resulted to an accident that claimed one life recently. The Police and Federal Road Safety Corps are all there collecting toll from drivers, instead of clearing the road.
“Tanker and trailer drivers are the major players in this act as they occupy both sides of the road therefore, if government can provide an alternative park for them, the road will be decongested”.
In another development, a community leader in Eleme, Mr … Mene has urged the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to employ the services of notable construction companies like Julius Berger and Reynoid Construction Company (RCC) for the proposed rehabilitation of Aleto bridge that is presently caving in.
Mene who gave the charge in a chat with newsmen warned that if the rehabilitation contract was awarded to individuals based on political patronage, the desired results may not be achieved.
He however, commended the NDDC for indicating interest to carry out repair work on the Aleto bridge that is about to collapse.