Press Releases

Incessant Tanker Accidents: Fashola Calls For Cooperation Of Regulatory Agencies

Feb 17, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Tuesday called on regulatory agencies in the State to cooperate with the State Government in its efforts to ensure free flow of traffic in the State.

Governor Fashola, who was fielding questions from Airport Correspondents at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, on arrival from Abuja, blamed the frequent traffic hold-ups caused by fuel tankers and trailers on the regulatory agencies such as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum and Pipeline Marketing Company (PPMC) whom he accused of nonchalance towards ensuring the road worthiness of the vehicles.

According to the Governor, if these regulatory agencies, which are at the loading points of the articulated vehicles, ensure that the vehicles are road-worthy and their cargo well secured, incidents of containers falling off the trailers and fuel tankers overturning on the road and spilling their contents will be minimized.

Recalling a meeting which the State Government held a fortnight ago with stakeholders in the haulage industry over the matter, Fashola declared: “One of the places we can start, as we suggested to them, are the loading points; the NPA, the pipeline depots i.e. Ejigbo, Mosimi, and if they can help to ensure that only road worthy vehicles load containers or fuel, I think we will have more than reduced the impact of all these problems by half”.

According to the Governor, “Most of the incidents start off from containers falling off trailers because they are not fastened, because the fasteners have either failed or spoilt and then, you also have tankers turning over usually as a result of over-speeding or fatigue, sometimes the driver sleeps off and all of that”, pointing out the tankers are expected to have double layer of protection to prevent the contents from spilling in the event of any accident.

“When such things happen in other places, their contents don’t spill on the road and there is a question of quality. We are just allowing people to carry their vehicles on the road and allow them to carry very inflammable and very sensitive and all security items”, the Governor lamented.

Soliciting the cooperation of the regulatory agencies, especially in the area of checking for road-worthiness and securing of cargo at the loading points, Governor Fashola added, “We have indicated our willingness through the Lagos State Transport Management Agency to come and assist them but really, until we get this kind of cooperation, it is worthless and useless to us and to the citizenry to be chasing vehicles that have already loaded containers or petrol across the state and hunting them and adding to the traffic congestion”.

“The sensible thing to do is to take it at the control state, which is where they load and once they do it, I hope half of the problems would be solved”, the Governor said. He said in order to improve the driving etiquette of the drivers, the five driving training schools that he promised Lagosians have been completed and equipped ready for commissioning.

“The driving schools are ready to be opened. All the equipment; the eye test and other safety tests like the digital stimulator to train drivers in modern methods are ready”, he said.

Commending LASTMA for the good work they are doing in the effective and efficient management of traffic in the State, especially, their quick response to the accident involving a tanker on Gbagada Expressway yesterday, Governor Fashola said, “This is what they spend most of their time doing really and it is unfortunate that in spite of the successes we have recorded, we still have problems with this articulated vehicles- trailers and tankers”.

Asked to comment on the issue of State Creation as one of the issues top on the agenda of the Constitution Review Committee of the National Assembly, Governor Fashola declared, “State creation I think is a constitutional issue and I think there are more pressing issues in the constitution that challenge us now and therefore, I’m sure the eminent members of the National Assembly are setting the appropriateness of the priorities and I think when the time comes to debate the merits or the demerits of state creation, then, I will like to comment but for now, I will keep my gun power dry”.