Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) on Monday said that the newly introduced Call-up System to regulate the movements of trucks into the Apapa ports had fully begun operation. The Chairman of AMATO, Chief Remi Ogungbemi said this in a press statement he and Alhaji Wasiu Oloruntoyin, the Chairman of Container Truck Owners Association of Nigeria (COTOAN) jointly signed in Lagos. He assured the public that the new system would restore sanity within Apapa and its environs as it concerned the movement and parking of trucks.
He said that movement and parking of trucks had been a source of traffic jam in the vicinity and beyond over the years. Ogungbemi said that the positive outlook was the result of a stakeholders’ meeting held at the weekend. He said that the meeting was attended by the AMATO/COTOAN coalition as well as the Multi-Agency Taskforce, headed by Rear Adm. E.O. Eyo. The chairman of AMATO said that the key issues discussed at the meeting include: traffic gridlock, parking of trucks on the bridges and along the roads, endless queues and the dangers of fatigue on the drivers. He added that the statement said that the meeting agreed that all AMATO/COTOAN members must abide by the resolutions reached at the meeting. He said that this would allow them to achieve the set goals and for orderliness to prevail in their operations.
The statement stated that: “truck drivers must obtain call-up codes before bringing out their trucks; they must ensure that the hirer of the truck (Agents) assist in processing the call-up. “The truckers must design disks for the identification of their garages; confirm booking number of the export container they carry before coming to the ports. They must not park along the roads after exiting the port.’’ The chairman of the truckers’ body also said that it had become an offence to offer money for passing of trucks. He advised members to always call their superiors for assistance should they encounter any challenge. The statement, however, threatened sanctions against members who violated any of the regulations, while appealing to the task force to be more civil in its activities.
The truckers’ body in the statement also called for a review of some unfriendly policies that denied them the use of some infrastructure close to the ports. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Apapa traffic-jam which had become a recurring issue over the years was due to the clogging of the bridges leading into the Apapa ports by container trucks and petrol tankers. The resultant effects of the trucks on the bridges had brought untold hardships to commuters and residents of Apapa, including commercial activities. Efforts by the authorities to address the problem over the years had yielded no positive results. (NAN)
