Industrialists and other operators of business at the Apapa axis of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway have cried out against the negative impact bad roads and perennial traffic jams have had on their businesses
The Apapa axis of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway has for a long time been witnessing heavy vehicular log jam as a
result of the large concentration of industries and oil depots and tank farms. The roads have become a death trap, and valuable man-hours are lost due to vehicular traffic. This has resulted into agonising experiences which has impacted negatively on the business activities in the area, especially those not into oil business and commuters go through.
The Apapa branch chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), John Aluya, has remarked that the manufacturing sector is groaning under challenges that are mitigating its growth as business activities at the ports have left so much to be desired. “We have expected Federal and States government to use this period of dry season to effect repairs of the roads leading in and out of the seaports and other major roads leading to industrial areas, and as partners in progress, the association is open for further discussion on the rehabilitation of the roads.”
For Babatunde Odunayo, the managing director of the Honeywell Flour Plc, one of the companies operating in area, “Industries in the area lose billions of Naira to traffic jam. I think the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) should look at creating a permanent trailer park for trucks that have business to do at the port. Right now there is no parking space for them. They queue up on a single lane and sometimes they form a double lane on the road, trying to wait for their turn and the road becomes congested. The Tank farm, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Lagos State government and NPA should agree on the relocation of these tank farms that is the only way can have some sanity at the port road”.
Sometime ago, the Ministry of Transportation sent operatives of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) to impound 27 of the tankers parked arbitrarily between Five Star and Toyota Bus Stops along the Expressway. The tanker drivers reacted by embarking on a four-day strike action which they called off after the tanker operators had finally paid the stipulated fine. They promised not to park indiscriminately along the expressway again, but that promise seems to have been made only to be broken.
But Kunle Ayinde who works near the area is of the view that “the tanker drivers adopted a hide-and-seek method. Apart from their brazen seizure of the expressways as in Apapa, what they do currently is to arrive from double long queues in roads off the major roads that link to the tank farms. Another trader, Ekiomado Okosun, said “it is baffling that government could not take a definite stand against the excesses of the tanker drivers in the state. To be frank, as long as tanker drivers continue to park on the road, lives of other road users are in danger. These people do not seem to consider the dangers which their actions pose to other road users”
Okosun stated that the route is divided into two lanes, one going to the Beachland Estate and another to Apapa Wharf. He disclosed that on the Beachland Estate route, there are three depots namely; Rahamayia, Obat Petroleum and Dee Jones. He revealed that locating these farms in one Area was causing the people a night myth and saying which was because of poor vision of the regulatory body`` Anytime they are loading, the area is usually congested as more tankers and trailers are parked there, waiting to load.
A Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) official who prefers anonymity, said that the Beachland route is a single carriage way and the concentration of three depots on the road is a nightmare for motorists as they load on a daily basis which usually results in loss of manpower on the road. He implores government to try to relocate the depots if possible and provide more towing vehicles for the commission to assist in moving broken-down trucks from the road quickly enough and do something about the bad nature of the road delay.
xHowever, one of the tanker drivers, Abdul Kareem Dan Musa said his colleagues do not deliberately obstruct traffic. He said: “You hardly see us on the expressway during the early hours of the day when vehicular movement is heavy. It is only in the evening or on weekends. As long as the tank farm is still where it is, there is nowhere else for us to park. Though the space is large, it is still not enough. He wants Lagosians to bear with them for the “little inconvenience” their presence may cause, even as he insisted that they have their own traffic officials who ensure that tankers are parked in an orderly manner.
