The Federal Road Committee on Surveillance and Action against Road Abuse (FERCSARA), has warned all road users especially tanker and truck drivers against indiscriminate parking of trucks on ports access roads.
This warning was given by the Zonal coordinator of the Zone 2 of the task force, Austin Kelly during a rally held to sensitize truckers and other road users over the weekend.
FERCSARA was set up by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to maintain traffic on all federal government roads especially the port access roads.
Kelly said, “We are here to assist the road users in all ramifications that will help improve traffic situation and have easy access to the ports and also on federal government roads. We embarked on this rally to sensitize the road users and tell them that enough of impunity on our roads.
“We are prepared to fight the gridlock that bedeviled Apapa, we are ready to fight the war so we are sensitizing that there is need for voluntary compliance, to obey the traffic rules and regulationS which is very simple than forcing them. We don’t want to force anybody that is why we are sensitizing them to obey common law which is the regulation of traffic flows on all roads and access roads leading in and outside the ports.”
He also disclosed that the taskforce may be forced to use force on erring drivers if they continue to flout the traffic rules.
“Well, we are sensitizing them and after that we will tell them to obey common traffic rules and laws but if they insist in doing the bad thing or the opposite thing of what we are telling them to do, then we will impound their vehicle and whatever fines imposed on them, they will pay but now we are not impounding vehicles what we are doing is to appeal to them so that they can obey simple traffic rules.”
The one time Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) chieftain also said that to solve the problems of trucks with empty containers causing problems on the port access roads, the task force had acquired a 42,000sqm of land that can contain over 4000 empty containers.
He said when the holding bays are fully operational; trucks drivers would no longer need to go to the ports to drop empty containers as call up system would be introduced for trucks needed at the port.
He said, “We have acquired about 42 thousand square meters of terminals where we are trying to divide to every shipping companies so that they can go there and start parking their empty containers, we will also introduce a call up system and when this is put in place all the trucks will be expected to be at that holding bays and when they are being asked to return to the port or wharf the call up system will be used and all the empty containers will be used.”
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