Truck drivers under the aegis of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) have accused Hitech Construction Company Ltd, a construction company rehabilitating the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, as being part of the impediments frustrating the electronic call-up system recently introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
This is coming after the Lagos State Government had accused some truck drivers and powerful individuals of trying to frustrate their efforts to clear the trucks and tankers off the roads on the Apapa axis.
According to a report from the Punch, this disclosure was made by the Vice-Chairman, NARTO, Dry Cargo Section, Abdullahi Inuwa, who sought government intervention on the Tin Can stretch of the port access road.
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Inuwa said, “We have challenges most especially in Tin Can axis. The contractor is not helping issues. The contractor is part of the impediments frustrating the e-call up system.
“This is because the contractor blocks some portions of the road along the Tin Can axis, then at midnight, he opens the road to some certain groups of people to pass. We don’t know what their reasons are. We hope something can be done regarding that.”
On the status of the oil tankers which were previously seen on the Tin Can axis on Tuesday, Inuwa said the Lagos taskforce had begun to clear the road on Thursday.
He said, “There is progress every day. I learnt that it was not up to an hour that the task force came to mile 2 to clear some of the trucks along Tin Can axis.”
READ: Apapa gridlock: NPA MD says e-Call up will eliminate human intervention and extortion
What you should know
It can be recalled that the Electronic Truck call-up system, Eto, which was designed and launched by NPA for the management of truck movement and access to and from the Lagos ports and to end the gridlock in and around the ports, formally took off over a week ago.
This is to also help complement the drive for a business-friendly and secure environment for port business in Nigeria.
During the implementation of the new system, all trucks doing business at the ports will be required to park at the approved truck parks until they are called up into the port through the Eto app.
READ: Apapa gridlock: Lagos to impound trucks parked on highway
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while explaining how his administration in partnership with the NPA and other stakeholders in the maritime sector was able to get the heavy articulated vehicles off the road around the Apapa axis, warned that the state government would resist any attempt by individuals and maritime operators to reverse the progress being recorded along the Apapa corridor.
He had vowed to publicly name and shame prominent Nigerians behind the gridlock situation in Apapa and environs.
