The Lagos state government yesterday issued a 48 hour notice to owners of tankers and heavy duty vehicles parked on the Mile 2 Apapa Ports to remove them or they would be confiscated. .
The State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa who issued this order at the first stakeholder summit by the Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA) said that the ultimatum was total.
He also hinted of plans to introduce, next month, a remote device known as auto inspector for verification of vehicle licenses and permits.
Opeifa stressed that the state could no longer watch the menace posed by the tankers , and added that clearing them off the road would allow for smooth take off of the repair work expected to commence soon on the road.
Opeifa who expressed concern at the damage caused by heavy duty vehicles on the road ,said that major stakeholders including National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) workers, Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA), Association of Maritime Truck Owners(AMARTO) and Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR) have been informed of the government’s decision.
“We have met with their unions; we have met with NUPENG, Port Managers, Federal Comptroller of Works. The road rehabilitation has been awarded but the contractors cannot go to site, the drainage is blocked that is why the place is flooded.
“ The port manager has said they have no business to be there, we agreed with the port managers so there is no reason why they should be there”.
The commissioner urged all the major oil marketers and independent marketers to move their vehicles off that road , service lane as well as the line where the drainage channel lies.
“Men of the Nigerian Police, Port authorities, Port Managers, Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA), Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), everybody is moving to that road and the exercise is going to last throughout Friday”, he warned.
He noted that the measure was also meant to mitigate challenges motorists were likely to go through plying the road in case of heavy rainfall and added that the number of casualties recorded on the road was of concern to the state.
On the auto inspector, the Permanent Secretary, MVAA, Mr. Akin Hanson described the device as first of its type in the country, and added that the device would be officially unveiled in August by the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola .
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