Poly Products Director, Mr Pavan Gwalani has urged government at all levels to make road repair a priority in the coming year, to reduce time wasted in traffic gridlock.
Gwalani made the call on Tuesday in Lagos.
He said that the conditions of roads and the situation with power in the nation had greatly affected the productivity of its people.
The director said that the most important resource any government could have was its people, and their state of mind, the situation around them and their happiness largely affect their levels of productivity at work.
“Businesses have been able to generate their power, which is okay, but consideration must be given to citizens as they are the ones that need it mostly.
“It takes some persons an average of two to four hours to get to work and back home, because of the state of our roads.
“This has greatly reduced the time parents spend guiding their children and this had let to a disjointed society.
“Also, a large amount of productivity is lost from the time spent on the road, and we also have the health aspect of it to address.
“Without proper power generation, children cannot study and this is affecting the next generation,’’ he said.
Apapa: Opeifa seeks support of stakeholders to check gridlock, open defecation
Mr Kayode Opeifa, Executive Vice Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Restoration of Law and Order to Apapa, has called for the support of Apapa residents toward cleaner environment and an end to open defecation.
Opeifa, during a visit to Lagos office of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, said the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) was working round the clock to clean up Apapa.
He said that his team was working on correcting an anomaly in refuse disposal introduced by the Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration which encouraged bringing of refuse to the roads.
Opeifa, who is working with a team of the state government which includes LAWMA, said that daily evacuation of refuse in Apapa had begun in spite of challenges of accessibility.
He said that the modern refuse collection system did not support dumping of refuse on the roads or any roadside collection methods.
“LAWMA is aware of the sanitation condition in Apapa and have moved in and are working and making progress, they complain of accessibility, we just need to improve on the efficiency of their operations,’’ he said.
The committee vice-chairman said that his team was also making progress in cleaning up markets in Lagos.
On open defecation in Apapa and other parts of the state, he called for the support of all residents, business concerns and public institutions to stop the trend.
He said that people could use toilets in public places like petrol stations, eateries, event centres and other public utilities and so they had no justification for open defecation.
He said that a recent study carried out by the state government revealed that new residents, who have not lived in Lagos for up to two years, were usually responsible for the open defecation.
Opeifa said that the survey indicated that such new residents usually stopped the habit after integration into the system.
“People talk about public toilets as if governments somewhere in the world build public toilets. I lived in U.S. for almost 10 years.
“There is nothing called public toilet. If I am going along the road and I am pressed, I will just use the nearest petrol station or super market or eatery, that is where to get the nearest public toilet.
“All government institutions, every commercial outlet should make its space available for people to use,’’ he said.
Opeifa said the state government encouraged petrol stations and event centres to have toilet to assist residents to reduce the problem to the barest minimum.
On the congestion in Apapa, Opeifa appealed for the collaboration of critical stakeholders to decongest the ports.
He added that the disorderly conduct by truck drivers was responsible for chaotic road situation in Apapa.
He said that articulated vehicles in Apapa were important to the economy as such stakeholders must corporate to root out agents of corruption benefiting from disorderliness around the port and the gridlock.
The executive vice chairman explained that his team adopted measures to cope with the increased pressure on the port due to border closure and had succeeded in getting trucks off the roads.
He called for the understanding of Apapa residents whose net worth had increased by living in the area as well as the support of the media in winning the war on restoration of law and order.
Opeifa said that the media should understand and report factually the issues causing congestion at Apapa ports and roads to find lasting solutions to the problems.
He expressed regret over the killing of traffic officials and the backlash from those who benefited from the confusion in Apapa axis and appealed for all hands to be on deck to restore sanity to the area.
Apapa Restoration: We’ve delivered on our mandate, tankers no longer on Lagos roads – Opeifa
Mr Kayode Opeifa, the Executive Vice Chairman, Presidential Task Team on Apapa Restoration of Law and Order, says his team has delivered its mandate to bring sanity to Apapa axis of Lagos by ensuring easier access in and out of the area.
Opeifa said this during a visit to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday while monitoring of the traffic situation in Apapa.
According to him, tankers are no longer on the road paralysing economic activities before the task force was set up.
When asked that tankers were again on the road, Opeifa said: “That is not correct and that is extremely alarming and a wrong impression of the fact.
“The fact of the matter is that tankers are no longer on the road. The trucks are no longer on the road. What you see on the road, the day you don’t see them again, Nigeria is in recession.
” We need to understand what the road is meant for. The road is not meant for Keke Marwa and Okada. Apapa road is meant for all kinds of vehicles and mainly trucks – articulated vehicles.
“The tankers came back visibly when the Ijegun Jetty was shut down by Lagos State Government and the DPR around the middle of October. They were all diverted back to Apapa to load. That was for a national emergency.”
According to him, the current surge is only on one side of Apapa and the surge is early in the morning.
He said that the team had directed tankers not to come out before 10:00 a.m.
The committee vice chairman said the gridlock used to extend up to Maryland before the task was inaugurated, but now the situation had changed.
He said the access road to the ports had also been made easier for tankers and trucks.
He said that many of the tankers on roads were going mainly to Marine Bridge to load to the Northeast and other northern parts of Nigeria.
Opeifa said the problems in Apapa would soon be solved with the movement of petroleum products by the pipeline up to Ilorin, Kwara State, massive road rehabilitation as well as extension of rail line to the port.
He said that most of the areas in Apapa belonged to the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) in the past, but the privatisation had brought lot of encroachment.
Opeifa described the notion that articulated vehicles should maintain a single lane into the port so as not to disturb other road users as a wrong management principle.
He said that tankers had right the right to be on the road like other road users at the same time because of the economic and social purposes, but they should not obstruct other motorists.
The committee vice chairman said that if the depots were working and there were no breakdowns, there would not be any reason for articulated vehicles to stay on roads.
“From May 22 till date, I can tell you the tankers are off the roads, but when we have Christmas, what do you expect? Roads are congested, activities increase, fuel distribution increases and containers coming to the port increase.
“The port is now congested to the tune of over 125 per cent because we have closed down the borders.
“So, all the ships meant for Nigeria that were going to Benin have been diverted back to our port. Terminals must be more efficient,” he said
Opeifa said that tankers queued because they could not get to their depots, while trucks queued behind tankers because they could not get to their terminals.
According to him, trucks are coming to port en mass and nobody is controlling the way they come in.
He said there was the need for appropriate regulators before the ports were concession.
On trailer parks, Opeifa said that all depots had tanker parks as well as loading bays, but not all were performing optimally.
He said that his team identified about 48 possible trailer parks to keep up to 3,500 trailers to only come to the port whenever they were called, but the attack on Lilypond was a setback.
“The trucks need to do that in a way that they don’t affect others and we did that for three good months until that attack on Lilypond and the corruption-fight-back started.
“NPA should take care of managing the trucks within Lilypond, Shippers Council should take care of its economic regulation, the trucking companies, customs and everybody should behave and obey the laid down regulations.
“We have demonstrated this in June July, August, September up to the middle of October that we can have truck-free roads. No tankers spend one day on Lagos roads now, but hours. We have delivered on our mandate.
“How did the trucks come back on the road? The reason is that Lilypond, the epic centre of the call-up system was attacked and it is yet to come back to action.”
Opeifa denied allegations that extortion was fuelling disorderliness and lawlessness by truckers, but said that unhealthy competition to access the ports encouraged the development.
He said that all corruption would end whenever the Federal Government’s long, medium and short term solutions to Apapa situation were effective.
Opeifa said that in the restoration plan, the Lagos State Government was charged to repair some roads, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to work on pipelines, while the NPA would carry out some reforms like release of Lilypond and electronic call-up system. (NAN)
He urged the media to join in the restoration of law and order to Apapa
