FG, Lagos to restrict trailers on Apapa-Mile 2 Road .

The Federal Government in collaboration with the Lagos State Government and other major stakeholders have reached an agreement on how to end the menace of heavy traffic associated with articulated vehicles on the Apapa-Mile 2 axis.

To eliminate the traffic congestion on the road, the Federal Government may introduce routing system to tanker and truck drivers plying the road while the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has also been mandated to order the various concessionaires at the ports to increase their handling capacity to speed-up the loading of vehicles.

These were parts of the five critical decisions reached at a stakeholders’ meeting yesterday in Lagos.

It was attended representatives of the police, the Nigerian Navy, the Lagos State Transportation Management Authority, LASTMA, the Federal Ministry of Works, the National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, concessionaires and other stakeholders in the system.

The stakeholders agreed to set up a committee, which will include LASTMA, NPA, police and the Nigerian Navy. Also, trucks playing the route have been mandated to be on a call-up with documentation evidence indicating that they had a business to do on the axis at that particular point in time.

Besides, the various unions and associations of articulated vehicles have been ordered to desist from collection of dues at the port general areas as the attitude also add up to the heavy congestion at the area.

Speaking with journalists after a closed- door meeting with all parties involved in the haulage business along the axis, the Commander of the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Ovenseri Uwadiae, reiterated the determination of the Federal Government to end the gridlock.

He also disclosed that a committee to speed up the implementation process of the decisions reached at the meeting had been set up by the government, stressing that the committee had the mandate to find a lasting solution to the lingering traffic on the road.

Uwadiae also reiterated that the attitude of the stakeholders was a key factor in determining the implementation of the decisions reached and agreed upon at the stakeholders’ meeting.

General Manager, LASTMA, Mr. Babatunde Edu, assured of permanent end to the traffic congestion in the area soon.

Edu said that all the stakeholders would work in tandem to ensure that the project was successful, stressing that this would reduce man-hour lost due to the logjam on the road.

“All we are after is the global success of the project so we are going to put our heads together to ensure that we deliver and that we can assure you.

“We have been trying to ensure that traffic moves in and around Apapa and as we leave here, we will go back and see how we can work more on the areas that have just been discovered such that we can have a lasting solution.

“It is a work in progress that most importantly requires the cooperation of everybody such that we can have a desired result. Traffic management is an all-encompassing thing, we are very mindful of that and that is why we are a part of this meeting so we will do our best to ensure that traffic is moving.

“What we will do right now is to ensure that the travel time is reduced and once this happens, we are not expected to have any gridlock on the way.

“We are more proactive than ever; occasionally, you know we have broken down vehicles on the way or by the side, the time of arriving there is not the problem, but the time of taking the equipment that will reposition these vehicles is what matters. I am sure that going away from here we would get it bette, he said.

The meeting will reconvene in two weeks to assess the progress of decisions taken.

 

Gridlock worsens as contractor abandons site

LESS than 48 hours after it was reported that the contractor engaged by the Federal Government to repair failed portions of the Apapa end of the ever busy Oshodi/Apapa Expressway had commenced repair works, investigations yesterday revealed that the contractor might have abandoned the job as road users, residents and others continue to suffer the heavy gridlock.

The contractor, Boroni Prono, was given two weeks to fix the failed portions from Trinity Bus Stop to Tin-Can Island end of the expressway.

One of the workers had Tuesday claimed equipment were moved to site on Sunday following a directive from the Presidency to the management of the construction company.

But yesterday, workers reportedly seen Tuesday on site were nowhere to be found.

Efforts to speak with officials of the construction company for explanation, proved abortive.

An official of the company, who spoke on condition of anonymity said only the company’s director was permitted to speak on issues concerning the company.

On the spot assessment of the failed portion of the road yesterday, showed there was no sign on ground to suggest repair works would start soon.

A bus driver, Peter Edobor, who spoke to Vanguard, called for the termination of the contract and for it to be re-awarded to a more serious contractor who had the capacity and knew the urgency required.

Speaking to Vanguard earlier on the need to have the road fixed, Senior Special Assistant to the President on maritime matters, Mr Oyeleke Oyewole, said the president had expressed concern over the bad state of the road leading to the port.