By Thompson ABISOLA
Lagos State Government has acquired a large land at Ojo for construction of a trailer park to tackle gridlock in Apapa and other areas caused by indiscriminate parking of articulated vehicles.
The state Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Ladi Lawanson, said in Lagos that the construction would ease traffic significantly.
“Recently, we got information that there is land available around Ojo.
“We found a land that can potentially be used to take some of these trucks off the roads; the logistics involved is being borne solely by the Lagos State Government,’’ Lawanson said.
He said the government would soon begin construction of the trailer park to complement other efforts being put in place to ensure that trucks would be off the roads. The official said the gridlock in Apapa had defied solutions for a long period because of lack of holding bays.
According to Lawanson, road and port infrastructure in the state are over-stretched because they have not been developed in commensurate with the growth of Lagos State population.
He said the Apapa ports took care of about two-thirds of daily cargoes in and out of Nigeria.
The commissioner said construction of the truck park would be one of the ways of tackling the problem of overstretched infrastructure.
“Because of the importance of petroleum products to the nation, Lagos will continue to bear the brunt for the rest of Nigeria. That is why are calling on the Federal Government to give Lagos a special status,“ he said.
He, however, hailed the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman, and the Minister of Transport, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, for efforts in tackling congestion in Apapa.
Lawanson said the Lagos State Government would continue to partner with Federal Government agencies and other stakeholders to ease congestion in Apapa and other roads in Lagos.
