The Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Transportation has expressed worry over the spate of trailer-related accidents in the metropolis.
Chairman of the Committee, Mr Temitope Adewale, expressed the worry in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.
Adewale, representing Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency I in the Lagos Assembly, said the parliament was considering movement of containers with barges on waterways to Epe, Badagry and Ikorodu for trailers to pick them up.
According to him, the development will save the state from the accidents trucks and tankers are causing on the roads.
The lawmaker said: “It bothers us when we have accidents involving trucks and tankers in the state, making us to lose lives unnecessarily.
“Containers falling off the trailers and killing innocent people cannot continue in the state. These things bother us and there is the need for us to work on them.
“One of the initiatives that the House is proposing to the executive is to have a situation whereby containers are moved with barges to the three divisions in the state; Ikorodu, Epe and Badagry by water.
“So, by investing in the waterways, containers will be moved on barges from Apapa to Ikorodu, Badagry and Epe.
“We will not give access to heavy-duty trucks to ply our roads, or come to the metropolis when they can just pick them up from these areas.”
Adewale noted that government’s primary responsibility is protection of lives and property.
He urged operators of the articulated vehicles to ensure lorries were in good shape before putting them on the road.
“If the trucks are not in good shape, they should not be put on our roads. If trucks are not anywhere safe to be put on the road, operators should not put them on our roads.
“If the trucks do not have proper documentation, vehicle inspection clearance, operators should not bother to put them on the road, because the state government will begin to clamp down on them.
“Truck drivers must have valid licences. Vehicles must have all the requirements for driving at night and during rainfall.
“The safety of the people is the priority of the government. It is very important to state clearly that lawlessness within the state will not be tolerated,” he said.
The lawmaker added that the Lagos State Drivers Institute was also carrying out scheduled interviews for drivers of lorries, trucks and tankers within the state to reduce truck-related crashes and fatalities.
He called for an increase in the level of enforcement of regulations guiding the operations of articulated vehicles in Lagos.
Recall that there has been an increase in the spate of trailer-related accidents claiming lives and property in the state in recent times, the latest occurrence was on Friday at Cele Bus Stop, on the Oshodi-Apapa expressway. (NAN)
