Tanker drivers, others list ways out of Apapa gridlock

PETROLEUM tanker drivers have blamed the chaotic traffic situation along the Mile 2-Apapa road in Lagos State on failure by security personnel to enforce traffic rules and regulations.

They are urging the Lagos State Police Command and other security agencies to closely monitor the activities of their personnel along the area, arguing that if the rules are adequately and properly enforced, the traffic situation could “improve drastically within two weeks.”

One of the drivers, simply identified as Danladi, told The Guardian: “We are aware that all trucks cannot access the tank farms at the same time. When they (stakeholders) streamlined the loading arrangement recently, we (truck drivers) were happy, but along the line, the security agencies did not enforce the rules adequately.” He further urged the leadership of security agencies to periodically change their personnel along the axis as part of measures towards achieving efficiency.

Two other drivers, who declined to give their names, advised traffic control agencies, including the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), to sanction any driver that violates the laid down traffic rules to serve as deterrent to others.

But the FRSC Unit Commander, Wharf, Olalekan Morakinyo, blamed the tank farms at Apapa for the gridlock. He urged tanker drivers to change their attitude and abide by the programming system as a measure of bringing the situation under control. According to him, “the spillover from the tank farms is responsible for the traffic along the expressway.”

The Chairman, Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Vicky Haastrup, argued that the gridlock is rather a direct consequence of the alleged system failure in the oil and gas industry logistics chain. Haastrup, who is also the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ENL Consortium – operators of Terminals C and D of the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, said the only way to solve the problem is to immediately suspend the lifting of imported petroleum products by road.

“There is an over-concentration of oil tank farms (about 60) in Apapa, an area predominantly designed for port operations,” she noted. “We now have a proliferation of oil tank farms without regard for the safety logistics implication. I advised government over five years ago to discontinue tank farm operations in Apapa, but nothing was done. The problem is now staring all of us in the face.

“Port operations have been brought to a virtual standstill as a result of this chaos created by tank farms and oil tankers, and it does not look like anyone is doing anything drastic about it. Over 10,000 tankers descend on Apapa daily, and when you add this to the number of conventional trucks on routine maritime operations, it is not surprising that we have the kind of gridlock we are presently witnessing.”

As a way out, she said “the authorities must immediately activate the use of barges in petroleum products evacuation. Petroleum products meant for the northern part of the country should be moved to Lokoja and Baro ports by barges while the trucks collect them from there rather than come to Apapa.