FG bars parking of trucks along Lagos-Ibadan road

Trucks parked along Lagos-Ibadan expressway henceforth may be impounded and drivers/owners sanctioned.

This indication emerged on Saturday as the Federal Government ordered drivers of trucks and trailers parked on the expressway currently undergoing reconstruction to move the vehicles out of the area immediately.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, gave the order at the stakeholders’ town hall meeting held at the Ogere end of the highway.

The minister, who was accompanied by the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, said the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was constructed in 1974 and completed in 1978 to promote North-South commercial activities.

Fashola while reacting to the activities of truck and trailer drivers on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway told the officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps to enforce traffic compliance on the federal highways.

He said pouring of used petroleum products was capable of destroying the roads.

He also said the activities of the trucks and trailers drivers were the major cause the delay in the completion of work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Fashola said, “The point is that trucking and trailer operation is business. If you want to run fleets, then you must plan parking. If the government helps you, the government does so out of compassion but you cannot run your business at the expense of the convenience and the livelihood of millions of people.

“So, money that has been hard to find and the road that has been difficult to build, you have already started pouring diesel on it. That is the beginning of the destruction of the road and my appeal to you is to immediately leave the road today.

“Parking on the highway is a violation of the Federal Highway Act which you (FRSC) have a duty to enforce. So, work with the stakeholders, truck owners, the ‘Kabiyesi’ (monarchs) and state government, let us find an immediate way to resolve this problem so that contractors can complete their job and respond to those that say it’s taking too much time.

“This is part of the delay and it’s not just to build the road but also to ensure that the road is properly used and not abused.

“Pouring diesel on the road, changing oil (engine oil) on the road is an abuse of the road. It must stop in the interest of the truckers themselves because without roads, you have no business. Let’s just understand.”