Apapa gridlock: Tank farms given 30-day ultimatum to get holding bays or face sanction

Abiodun Oba |

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (2nd right); Managing Director, Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), Hadiya Hadiza Bala Usman (right); Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Ladi Lawanson (left) and Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello (2nd left) during the Governor’s meeting with NPA, Tank Farm Owners, Shippers Council and other Stakeholders on the Apapa Traffic Situation at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, on Monday.

Tank farm owners in Apapa area of the state have been given a 30-day ultimatum to provide adequate holding bays for trucks or be ready to face sanction.

The Lagos State Government on Monday issued this ultimatum as one of the resolutions of the meeting between Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and representatives of Unions in the Maritime sector and relevant stakeholders in Alausa, Ikeja over the indiscriminate parking of articulated vehicles on Lagos roads and bridges.

The meeting which was held behind closed doors lasted for about three hours.

In the communique issued at the end of the meeting, Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Ladi Lawanson in company of the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello and the Managing Director of the NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman, said as part of efforts to find lasting solutions to the traffic gridlock in Apapa area of Lagos State, the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA and the Lagos State Government would now jointly issue license for trailer parks and only trucks housed in such parks will be granted access to the ports.

Similarly, the Department for Petroleum Resources, DPR will monitor compliance with holding bay requirements while Tank farms without adequate holding bays within the next thirty days will be sanctioned.

The Commissioner said the meeting further agreed that all truck and tanker owners would be registered and that the Unions would be held accountable for the violation of extant rules and regulations, even as clearance of the parked vehicles from the roads would continue over the next five days.

“With Immediate effect, the Lagos State Government suspends approval for the development of tank farm, trailers not called upon and found trampling will be impounded and sanctioned, a security task force has been constituted by the Federal Government and Lagos State Government to work continuously for thirty days to bring sanity to the roads,” Lawanson said.

He stated that the Lagos State Government would accelerate the completion of the trailer Park at Orile, while the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing would commence palliative measures on bad portions of the Apapa access road.

For a very long time now, Lagosians have been grappling with the traffic gridlock in the Apapa axis, a situation which has affected the health of many of the residents of the area and impacted negatively on commercial activities in the axis.

The gridlock spilled over to the Eko Bridge and Ikorodu road axis of the State some months back causing untold hardship on commuters going to both Apapa and Lagos Island.

Respite came the way of commuters this weekend as the Security Task force constituted to restore sanity on the affected roads evacuated about 2000 trucks.