Lawmaker wants Orile park resuscitated to ease Apapa gridlock

The chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream, Joseph Iranola Akinlaja, has urged government and critical stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to urgently resuscitate and develop the abandoned Orile parking space for petroleum tankers to reduce traffic gridlock in Apapa, and other corridors in Lagos State.

Akinlaja made the call at the 2018 edition of the Lagos State Petroleum Marketers Safety Conference (LSPMSC).

He said lack of standard parking space in and around the areas where majority of private tank farms were located had resulted to gridlock on Lagos roads, creating heavy toll on the health of road users, reducing their lifespan and adversely affecting their productivity as well as the economy of the nation.
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He noted that the abandoned tanker park that has the capacity to accommodate about 3,000 trucks is the solution to the traffic gridlock on the Apapa corridor.

According to the Ondo State lawmaker, most of the roads to the depots are not accessible to tankers because they are in a bad state.

“I laughed the other time when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gave directive for a 72-hour joint operation to restore sanity around Apapa and environs when no parking alternative was provided.

This is why the tankers are back and will continue to be there.”
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