The Executive Director, Administration and Human Resources of SIFAX Group, Dr. Phil Ofulue has urged the Lagos State to make its policy on restriction of truck movement a long-term plan.
Ofulue who stated this on Thursday explained that there was no way government would sustain the policy on a short-term basis without alternative arrangement.
He further asked the state government to give the policy a space of one year before fully implementing it saying that by then, “people would understand.”
He said, “Within one year of this policy, government could lay tracks for railway to pull containers out of the ports and also make arrangement for repairing the roads.
“We are not criticising what the government has done but let them put a more forward-looking package because a step today may be very painful,” he said.
He however stated that direct fall-out of the policy is the possibility of port congestion.
“If you ask truck drivers to move at night, what security arrangements have been made?” he asked.
He mentioned the bad state of the road and the risk of armed robbery at night.
“The fact that the truck drivers are on strike pointed to the fact that there was no consultation before that decision was taken. If the truck drivers and their managers were adequately briefed, they will cooperate and accept the policy even though it is painful. I hope all stakeholders will come together to discuss it well,” Ofulue said.
He explained that on the surface, the policy might look nice, “but the truth is that these cargo need to get to their owners, importers and the end users on time and as when needed.”
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.