The Amalgamation of Container Trucks Owners Association of Nigeria (ACTOAN) and other stakeholders in Apapa have said that the ongoing road constructions in Lagos metropolis and within Apapa environs is responsible for the recent slow pace of movement into Apapa.
The truck owners, residents and other stakeholders in Apapa also lauded the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led Presidential Taskforce on restoration of law and order.
They said the timely intervention by the Osinbajo-led team has restored sanity, saying that the recent slow vehicular movement into the Apapa was caused by the massive road construction and rehabilitation on major access roads. They lauded the enforcement of law and order in the movement of tankers, trucks and other heavy duty vehicles in Apapa environs, in spite of the road construction-induced challenges.
Speaking on the development in Apapa, the ACTOAN Chairman, Chief Olalaye Thompson, said there was no traffic in Apapa anymore following the intervention of the task team, saying the call-up system introduced had been effective in the movement of trucks and other vehicles within Apapa.
According to Olaleye, who spoke on a telephone interview, the current transportation challenges were due to ongoing construction works in and around Apapa, adding that construction works on the Third Mainland Bridge, Marine Bridge and Mile-2-Tin-Can axis were responsible for what appeared to be a slow pace of vehicular movement in Apapa.
“Most of the reports you see on Apapa are not the true reflection of the happenings. We don’t know people who are those responsible for the campaign of calumny in the media. There is no traffic in Apapa except for the ongoing construction in and around Apapa. Construction work on Total Bridge (popularly known as the Marine Bridge) has forced over a thousand trucks to use one lane with other vehicles before they can access Apapa. Also, from Mile 2 to Apapa, there is no road currently due to massive ongoing construction which has also restricted movement on that axis. A couple of roads are also being repaired. There is no way, we won’t experience little hitches but it is not as bad as people painted it outside, “he said.
Also speaking, a resident, Wahab Jimoh said more private cars now ply Apapa more frequently due to the restoration of law and order on the axis.
According to him, “there was no resurface gridlock at all. No truck sleeps on the road, it has never happened. So where is the gridlock, so we should be talking about the whole Lagos gridlock then? There is more car traffic in Apapa than any other time. Moving truck traffic on one lane while cars are moving freely on the other lane can’t be seen as gridlock,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Presidential Task team on restoration of Law and Order in Apapa, Comrade Kayode Opeifa insisted that there is no gridlock in Apapa as being speculated.
Opeifa, who spoke in Apapa, said that most of the roads within and round Apapa that are currently under construction were either abandoned or left in deplorable conditions by the previous administration, adding that Buhari-Osinbajo-led federal government awarded road construction projects as part of the moves to completely restore sanity in Apapa.
He said: “People need to understand what is going on, not just sit down and read misleading news headlines. Headlines don’t always reflect the true story. We should also refresh our memories by comparing what happens now to what we used to experience before. Is this not far better than what happened before? Is this situation not 100 percent better at a point than what we use to experience?
“We need to understand what is going on. The federal government has shut the Third Mainland Bridge for repair, Marine Bridge is being repaired, an arm of Eko Bridge is also closed down for rehabilitation all within Apapa, and we have asked the trucks to use the same roads with tankers, other trucks and cars, so it is expected. These are non-recurrent, they will happen over the period these construction and rehabilitations are ongoing.
“People also need to know that the other entrance into Apapa is Tin Can axis through Mile 2 but because of restricted access due to ongoing construction, a lot of truckers now access Tin Can by coming through Apapa Wharf and all these increase the volume of work truck capacity in this place and from here they link their destinations.
“Creek road too is under construction, so there are so many construction works which are affecting the movement into the axis. Apapa is now receiving 50 percent of the number of trucks it should ordinary receives, it is getting extra and there is no perfect
