NUPENG lauds LASG on proposed expansion of Oirile-Iganmu Truck Park

The South-west chapter of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Thursday applauded the Lagos State Government’s plan to expand the Orile-Iganmu Truck Park.

The chapter Chairman, Mr Tokunbo Korodo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the expansion would bring a lasting solution to the gridlock on Apapa, Orile-Iganmu routes.

Korodo said the tanker drivers had been parking on highways in Lagos due to the alleged lack of security and parking lot in the metropolis.

He, however, urged the government to complete the entire parking lot because the park was capable of accommodating 2,300 trucks instead of the 1000 parking space being proposed.

According to him, the present space at the terminal can only accommodate 600 trucks, and the number has dropped due to an ongoing rail project in the area.

He urged Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode to urgently complete the project to ensure high level of compliance with the state government’s directive.
Mr Taofeek Busari, a NUPENG member at the truck park, said that government could also sand-fill the water-logged area of the park as a palliative measure, pending when the expansion was completed.

Busari said that the measure would allow the terminal to accommodate more trucks.

Busari added that presently, only about 200 trucks could park at the terminal instead of the 600 trucks it was meant to handle.

“Most drivers who come from the north and eastern parts of the country often refuse parking at the terminal due to the N1, 000 levy which they considered exorbitant,” he said.

NAN correspondent, who visited the terminal, counted only 15 trucks parke.d there.

NAN recalls that Ambode had on July 8 said that the park would be expanded to ease the usual gridlock in Apapa.

Ambode said this at a meeting with the Depots Association of Petroleum Products Marketers of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) at the Government House, Alausa.