By Uzor Odigbo
Reactions have continued to trail the Lagos state government restrictions on the movement of articulated vehicles, as stakeholders in the maritime industry frowned at the directive, saying it will cripple port operations and further heightened insecurity of lives and properties on the highways.
A cross-section of maritime operators who spoke to thenicheng.com on the development lamented that the directive will further lead to congestions at the two seaports in Lagos, advising that functional holding bays for the truck should have been the only way out of resolving gridlock within the state’s highways.
The state government had on Wednesday, banned trucks and trailers from plying the major highway during the day.
Frederic Oladeinde, the state Commissioner for Transportation who announced this when he met with various truck owners in the state , said trucks and trailers were now restricted to night operations on dedicated routes between the hours of 9pm to 6am daily in order to avert rising carnage’s on roads during daytime.
But reacting on the development, former Chairman, Lagos Maritime Security , Port Facility Security Officer Forum (PFSO), Mr. Anataku Subaru, said the directive will worsen traffic situation in the state and mostly the port environment.
The maritime stakeholder noted that 75% of such vehicles are designated for the seaports in Lagos and with the directive in place, will further compound speedy clearance of cargoes from the ports.
Subaru suggested for the federal and state government to enforce compliance for shipping companies to acquire holding bays for trucks.
The former PFSO chief noted that the condition of the roads cannot encourage free flow of vehicles adding that with potholes and deplorable condition of roads in some of the areas would create more bottlenecks for free flowing traffic.
He noted that “I don’t know their plans or the strategies they have in place to tackle gridlock with the introduction of this restrictions on trucks and trailers.
“The area they needed to work on is to ensure that the shipping companies get the necessary holding bays for containers and without that we will continue to practicalise traffic situation in Lagos.
“The roads are bad and we are talking about restrictions? ,its quite unfortunate because the same policy was put in place some years back and it failed.
On his part, Public Relations Officer, Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Association (COMTUA), Alhaji Inuwa Abdullahi reiterated dearth of holding bays for trucks and containers, saying the new directive introduced by the state government will hinder traffic situation within the ports and its environs.
Abdullahi who is also a chieftain of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) maintained that such directive needs maximum input from maritime stakeholders because according to him, the port will be halted if the government should enforce the directive .
Similarly, Chairman Lagos State, NARTO ,Alhaji Kayode Odunowo added that the security implications would further jeopardize the drivers and assist if enforces.
According to him, cargoes will be at high risk from men of the under world due to the poor security situation in the country.
Odunowo pointed out that ports congestion will thrive and most trucks will spend longer period inside the terminals due to the ill-advised timing.
He, however, suggested that the best way on the directive is for the state government to give room for recommendations from the transporters