BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI, GODWIN ORITSE,KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE, BOSE ADELAJA & MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO
LAGOS — A combined team of law enforcement agencies, led by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Umar Manko, yesterday, removed over 60 trucks indiscriminately parked along Oshodi -Apapa Expressway, following the expiration of ultimatum issued by the state government to remove them.
Two persons were also arrested by the Lagos State Task Force on Environment and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, during the evacuation exercise of abandoned vehicles and demolition of all illegal structures in Apapa area of the state.
Vehicles being towed by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) at Marine Beach under bridge, Apapa, yesterday. Photo: Monsur Olowoopejo.
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State had, last week, after leading a delegation on an inspection tour of the area, directed the Ministry of Transportation to issue a four-day ultimatum to owners of trucks and other vehicles parked along the expressway to remove them or have such impounded.
The exercise began around midnight when the Police Commissioner led Task Force officials comprising the police, military officers and officials of LASTMA and Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI to dislodge the truckers.
The evacuation
The evacuation exercise, which lasted over 13 hours, commenced from Tincan to Creek Road, Liverpool and Marine Beach before it was suspended at about 2 p.m.
As a result of the enforcement, the usual traffic gridlock disappeared with motorists driving unhindered to their destinations.
Over 10 trucks were impounded at Marine Beach at 11.30 a.m. According to the Chairman of the Task Force, Superintendent Bayo Sulaimon, “the action was based on the ultimatum given by Governor Babatunde Fashola that all vehicles parked indiscriminately and shanties constructed under the bridge should be removed.”
“We commenced the operation at midnight in order to have easy movement of humans and vehicles in and out of the environment and to also be on ground before any of the occupiers of the area arrive to forestall any restriction.”
On what would happen to the recovered space, Sulaimon said: “This effort is to make this place look the way it was 20 years ago. Apart from the environmental benefit, there will be security within this area.”
On how long the enforcement would last, he said the enforcement just commenced today (yesterday) and would last until the entire area is recovered.
Said he: “The operation was very smooth because few owners of the vehicles and shanties complied with the directive of the state government to remove their vehicles. There were arrests in the early hours of the day when some occupiers of the shanties attacked our men during the evacuation of the vehicles and the demolition of illegal structures. We had no option than to arrest the men because they wanted to halt the exercise.
“We made a lot of vehicular arrests and they have all been parked at LASTMA yard, Oshodi. We met them right on the road flouting the law of the state. We know where we are going and until we get there, we will not relent until we get to our destination.”
Speaking earlier, General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Babatunde Edu, confirmed that about 60 trucks had been towed so far, saying the exercise would continue
He said: ”We have removed all the recalcitrant vehicles on the Apapa road in order to ensure that traffic gridlock along this road becomes a thing of the past. We expect and urge the tank farm owners to provide available space for their trucks to park pending loading turns.”
We ‘ll crush any truck impounded henceforth
Also speaking to newsmen after the operation, Special Adviser to the President on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof. Sylvester Monye explained that it took them six months to work out strategies on how to clear the tankers off the road, noting that the activities of tanker drivers had denied other Nigerians the use the road.
He explained that before the road was finally cleared of tankers and other vehicles, the committee met with several stakeholders in the maritime industry such as ship owners, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA; Customs terminal operators, Lagos State government and the truck owners and drivers.
Monye also disclosed that the committee would crush any truck that is parked henceforth on the road at a crushing site already provided by the Lagos State government.
He, therefore, warned truck and tanker owners to provide parking space for their vehicles since they have offices and homes.
His words: “We have been meeting and discussing with stakeholders. As a result, we have been able to clear the road without any force. Any tanker owner that does business in Apapa should provide parking space for his or her vehicle outside the port access road. The Lagos State government has provided us with a crushing site to crush any vehicle parked on the road. If they decide to go on strike, it is their business; they cannot hold other road users to ransom because they are doing their businesses. Everybody has a right to the road and we do not want to condone any indiscipline. Any vehicle lost by its owner is lost forever because such vehicle will be crushed.”
Professor Monye stated that the Lagos State Government has directed its traffic management agency to monitor the road on a 24-hour basis.
Residents hail evacuation
In his reaction to the exercise, the Grand Patron of a group which goes by the name, Elders’ Forum Kirikiri and Apapa, Chief Babalola Shabi, described the removal of obstructions along the road as a big relief to residents of the area and motorists plying the road.
According to him, the gridlock along the expressway is the cause of numerous armed robbery attacks on motorists and residents of the neighbourhood.
Said he: “People who close at places of work around 5 p.m., usually don’t get home until midnight. I have been a victim of robbery attack as a result of the persistent gridlock especially around Mile 2.”
Shabi told Vanguard of the efforts by the Kirikiri community to rid the expressway of abandoned trucks, adding: “At the community development level, KiriKiri Joint Elders’ Forum had issued a warning to abandoned vehicles owners to remove them or pay a fine of N100,000. Initially, we were faced with the task of where to take the impounded vehicles to but we have liaised with the Chairman of Ori-Ade Local Council Development Area who has given us a towing vehicle and a parcel of land at Abule-Oshun where all impounded vehicles are taken to.”
Similarly, Secretary, Lagos Zonal Council of Petroleum Tanker Drivers, Comrade Adebayo Atanda, said the exercise was a welcome development, noting: “We all know the importance of the exercise; this issue needs some proactive measures and we have directed our men to remove all abandoned tankers from the expressway.”
On environmental degradation
The state Commissioner for Transportation Mr. Kayode Opeifa had earlier lamented the environmental nuisances caused on Apapa- Oshodi Expressway. He particularly decried activities like repairing of vehicles on the roads, excreting in the drainage and on the roads, blocking of the drainage system with pure water sachets and selling of servicing oil right in the drainage system.
He urged leaders and members of the Petroleum Drivers Tankers Association PTDA Branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers NUPENG to educate their members and ensure that tanker drivers desisted from this unhealthy attitude as it could pose danger to the health living conditions of Lagos residents.
The Commissioner who said that the state government was not unaware of the problems posed by the failure of petroleum distribution system in the country, particularly in Lagos, however, urged the Ministry of Petroleum and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC to rise up to the challenge of petroleum distribution and ensure that only those tankers which adequate provision are issued with tickets to come to Lagos to load petroleum products.
He said that the state government was uncomfortable with a huge number of tankers that are in Lagos when it is not yet their turn to load thereby compounding traffic on the axis.
Opeifa, while reiterating that the exercise would continue, said that the state government being a responsible and responsive one would ensure that every citizen has easy access.
He added that the enlightenment and enforcement exercise would also continue as government would not relent until tanker drivers only park on one lane of the service lane.
Opeifa called on the public not to hesitate to inform the Ministry of Transportation of any broken down or abandoned tankers and trucks on Apapa – Oshodi Expressway.
It will be recalled that for over five years, tanker and trailer drivers had taken over the expressway and converted it to parking lot, leaving a single lane for motorist to ply. This scenario has been largely responsible for the perennial traffic gridlock on the axis. Vanguard recalls that prior to the exercise, motorists plying the road spend several hours between Berger Yard and Wharf for a journey that should last less than15 minutes.
SOURCE: The Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely Read Newspaper 8 May 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment