By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been urged to relocate the tank farms in Apapa so as to decongest traffic in the area.
A member of the Assembly representing Apapa Constituency 1, Mrs Mojisola Miranda, lamented that the traffic congestion in the area has made live unbearable for residents, business owners as well as school children.
She noted that urgent steps must be made to restore sanity to Apapa.
Speaking on Thursday during plenary, the lawmaker said the activities of the trailer drivers in Apapa are not only affecting traffic in the area, but that it has extended to other parts of the state.
She urged the Assembly to invite the state’s acting Commissioner for Transport and the Managing Director of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to brief the house on how they would handle the matter.
This was supported by the lawmaker representing Apapa Constituency 2, Mr Olumuyiwa Jimoh.
Mr Jimoh, who said that he had been having sleepless night on the matter, stressed that the residents of the area have been coming to him on the issue and that it should be resolved once and for all.
Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, emphasized that the House should not wait until the necessary officials were invited to brief them, but that necessary steps should be taken urgently to handle the situation.
“It is better we caution the trailer drivers to stop parking on the roads and bridges in the area. We will definitely call on the officials of LASTMA and Lagos State Safety Commission on the matter.
“We also have to call on the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to provide alternative roads to motorists, while the roads in Tin Can Island were being repaired,” he said.
Mr Obasa stated that the tank farms should be relocated from the area because, according to him, they were located in the area before the place became a densely populated area.
In his comment, Mr Rotimi Olowo from Shomolu Constituency 1 stated that the activities of the trailer drivers were affecting the economy of the state.
He said that the House had invited the people in charge of the road in the past and that the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) was a powerful union and that the House should meet the trailer drivers on the issue.
Also commenting, Mr Abiodun Tobun from Epe Constituency 1 wondered why the Federal Government that he said is collecting money in the ports was not doing the necessary things about the roads there.
Mr Tobun added that the government could get a location close to Tin Can Island Port to park the trailers and that Lagos State should be allowed to control the ports.
Mr Rasheed Makinde, in his contribution said that some of the trailers come from the eastern and northern parts of the country and that they disobey the laws of the state.
These views were supported by other lawmakers, who urged the House to urgently handle the matter, and the House adjourned sitting to Monday, September 25, 2017.
Adedapo Adesanya