Truck owners commend  presidential task force on Apapa gridlock

Truck owners under the aegis of Council of Maritime Truck Unions and Associations (COMTUA), have commended efforts made so far by the Presidential Task Team to restore sanity to Apapa and its environs.

COMTUA in a chat with our correspondent earlier in the week, expressed satisfaction with efforts made so far by the Kayode Opeifa led team, noting that the gridlock would soon be a thing of the past within the port access roads.

The truckers union further called on  the government to expedite actions on fixing the Apapa Oshodi expressway as a way of ending the gridlock.

Speaking on the development, Head of Operations, COMTUA, Alhaji Inuwa Abdullahii maintained that the new road marshal deserved commendation following the success recorded so far along the corridor.

“Looking at the situation holistically, without bias. I think we have to give credit to the Presidential Task team for a job well done.

“What am trying to say is that we all know what the situation was when the Navy were deployed to the corridors.

According to the investigations conducted by some members of COMTUA revealed that the logjam along Western Avenue and Eko bridge and Carter bridge have disappeared courtesy the Presidential Task team.

He further noted that the lingering gridlock from Ojota down to the National Stadium in Surulere has disappeared within the period ,saying that the government operatives have been able curb the anomalies within a short period.

Inuwa who also doubles as the Vice Chairman, Dry Cargo Section, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), explained that the pressure of haulage vehicles on the roads linking the Lagos seaport corridor have reduced drastically stating, that road users no longer experience difficulties while accessing Apapa.

Harping on the challenges militating against haulage business within the port environment of Apapa, the truck operator lamented that the concessionaires may thwart the effort of the road marshals following alleged constant server failure from APM terminals.

He added that  trucks might be compelled to remain on the queue for man hours because of their shortcomings of the terminal operators.

Inuwa added that the removal of military personnel from the highways made the drivers to be comfortable, relaxed within less pressure from the current government agencies along the corridors.

The federal government had ordered the newly constituted Presidential Task Team on evacuation of trucks from highway in Apapa to commence enforcement with effect from today (Sunday 26th May, 2019) .

The directive by the Federal government was to ensure that all stationary, immovable, accidented, incidented or wrongfully parked trucks are removed from all port access roads to a designated LASTMA impound yard.

The presidency also directed the Nigerian Navy to vacate the highways, even as it replaced military with LASTMA official.

The taskforce team commenced operations on May 22nd 2019