Gridlock: Build loading bays for your tank farms in 90 days – Ambode tells oil majors

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Am­bode, on Friday is­sued a 90-day ultimatum to tank farm owners to build loading bays or face the full wrath of the law.

The governor, who said this shortly after an emergency Security Council Meeting which he chaired, also warned the commercial motorcycle operators popularly called Okada riders, commercial buses and street hawkers, against disobeying the state traffic laws.

Ambode said the state government was not happy over the nefarious activities on the streets and highways which had caused terrible gridlock lately.

He ordered that “All Tank Farms are hereby given a 90-day grace period to build loading bays for their tank farms. Any Tank Farm that fails to provide a loading bay after this grace period, would be shut down by the State government.

“In addition, tank farms owners must desist from allocating pick-up papers to trucks beyond and above their daily capacity as is the case presently.”

Ambode said that it had become evident that traffic crimes and robbery were mostly as a result of the menace of Okada riders and street hawkers, while recalcitrant commercial buses had become lawless and reckless on the road.

The Governor said that the government will not allow a few notorious ele­ments to cause a breakdown in law and order and upset the peace that the state has enjoyed over the years.

Ambode disclosed that he directed the full enforcement of the Lagos Road Traffic Laws, especially as it concerned the restriction of okada and tricycle operations.

He stated that Schedule II of the Lagos State Road Traffic Law 2012 re­stricts Okada, tricycle (Keke Marwa), carts and wheel barrows on some routes including Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Oworonsho­ki-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos-Ikorodu Expressway, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and Third Mainland Bridge.

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