Truck Owners Praise Coordinated ‘Call Up’ System Into Lagos Ports
Truck owners under the aegis of Corporate Fleet Truck Owners Association have hailed the current respite on the ports access roads following a well coordinated call up system that moderated vehicles into the seaports.
The truck owners however urged the government to fast track the construction of the ports access road, in other to make the seaports more efficient.
The group, which also debunked the allegation of gratification that was leveled against the Presidential Task Team on Apapa Gridlock and the team’s head of Enforcement, said the call up system introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has improved evacuation of cargoes from the ports.
The Vice President of Corporate Fleet Truck Owners Association, Leye Thompson, in a chart with the media in Lagos said the Presidential Task Force has been fair in managing the traffic.
“Let me tell you, what the task team has done is very obvious to any one who has to navigate through Apapa, or those who work there. As truck owners, we are in Apapa on daily basis, so we can confirm that they have done well. We were all here, even when the navy was in charge, they only compounded our woes and enriched themselves”.
He emphasised that the task team has helped to ensure free flow of traffic into and out of Apapa, adding that , “no one collects money from any truck owner or driver to access the port; once NPA gives you your call up, you are free. Truckers now wait for their turn, there is normalcy in Apapa now”.
Also, Head of Operations, Council of Maritime Truck Unions and Associations (COMTUA), Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa, described the efforts of the task team in clearing some illegal parks under the bridges as a welcomed development.
He urged the government to fast track the construction of the ports access roads.
Vice Chairman of the Task Team, Kayode Opeifa, debunked allegations of corruption levelled against police officers attached to the Task Team, saying the allegations were those of “corruption fighting back.
He also blamed the terminal operators for the gridlock being experienced in Apapa.
He said it has been recommended that Nigeria Customs Service to auction containers directly inside the port based on the overtime cargo list submitted by the terminal operators.
He however lamented that since the instruction was passed; only PTML Terminal has complied with the directive, but other terminals have refused to submit the list of overtime cargoes in their possession.
