Truck drivers shun the Orile-Iganmu Parking Terminal to avoid paying N1,000 daily parking fees, operators of the facility have said.
Mr Timothy Nkeonye, Manager of the terminal, said that most truck drivers parked on Lagos roads thereby causing gridlocks in Apapa area.
“The truck drivers intentionally park on the road to avoid payment of fee at the parking terminal.
“They are very difficult to control, majority of them intentionally park on the expressway and bridges to avoid paying N1, 000 entrance fee at the terminal.
“Some drivers will tell you there is no money to pay for the terminal parking and that’s why they park on the roads,’’ he said.
Nkeonye said that for now, the parking terminal could conveniently contain 600 tankers if the drivers obeyed parking rules.
According to him, the 3000-capacity terminal has been experiencing low patronage since it was established in 2007.
He said that although part of the terminal was waterlogged, the Lagos State Government had intervened to find lasting solution to the challenge.
Nkeonye appealed to relevant government agencies to be more proactive in enforcing the traffic law that prohibited tankers from parking indiscriminately on the road.
“Some drivers will tell you there is no money to pay for the terminal parking, that’s why they park at the expressway whereas it is very dangerous.
“But if there is strict punishment for the offence of indiscriminate parking on the expressway and on bridges, the tanker drivers will adjust and abide by the rules,’’ he said.
Mr Kehinde Ishola, Secretary, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Orile PTD Branch, said most tanker drivers were fond of parking recklessly on the road.
Ishola said that most truck owners were unconcerned about where their trucks would be parked before loading at the depot.
“Some of the owner refused to give the drivers money for parking at the terminal; they are not concerned of where the truck will be parked before loading.
“I think government should take the enforcement with iron hand to eradicate the indiscriminate parking of trucks and tankers on the road.
“It is very dangerous and at the same time not proper as a city or country where its highways were filled with trucks and tankers is not ideal,’’ he added.
Mr Noah Adeniran, NUPENG’s Chief Vehicle Inspection Officer (VIO), also called for adequate enforcement to prohibit indiscriminate parking of trucks on the roads.
“Some of the tankers have no base, but instead of them paying for parking at the terminal for convenience and safety, they decide to hang around the expressway before loading at the depot.
“This parking terminal have been in existence since 2007, but some of the drivers refused to use it,’’ he said.
Lagos State Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode, had urged truck drivers to utilise the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ABAT, Truck Terminal in Ijora to reduce traffic gridlock in Apapa area.
Speaking at a Town Hall meeting in Apapa on April 17, Ambode expressed concern on the gridlocks caused by trucks around Lagos ports.
