By Abisola THOMPSON
The Nationally Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) said that it would henceforth picket truck drivers involved in bribing their ways to loading point at the Apapa Port.
TBI Africa said Chief Remi Ogungbemi, NARTO President gave the warning in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday.
Ogungbemi said with the completion and return of trucks to the Apapa Wharf Road and the continued traffic gridlock on the road, it was time the association looked elsewhere for solutions.
“With the completion and use of the Apapa Wharf Road, expectation was high that gridlock would disappear, instead the problems remain.
“Fingers have continued to point at truck drivers that bribe their way through and in most cases the disagreement that such cheating may cause particularly for those on the queue.
“Some drivers who may want to prevent such sharp practices use their trucks to cause obstruction that may take a whole day to resolve,” he said.
According him, if the truck drivers are made to be orderly, it would go a long way in stopping the traffic.
He said henceforth, driving documents of drivers caught disrupting lanes would be seized for a period of time.
He also said that those operators who were in the habit of collecting money to aid such disorderly practices would be reported for immediate action.
He, however, regretted the near collapse of haulage and transporting business in the ports and its negative bearing on the nation’s economy.
He also assured of NARTO’s efforts to work with other stakeholders to make the port user-friendly.
