Fashola who made the assurance while inspecting roads in Apapa and the ongoing expansion work on the 10 lanes Lagos-Badagry Expressway said officials of petroleum tanker drivers have assured him that in the next one week, things will change for the better.
“We are accepting that from them. It is easier for the state to accept their commitment but if we do not see the change we expect, we know what to do on behalf of the residents. One business cannot disturb the other.”
Fashola urged the Federal Government to visit Apapa so as to see what residents and owners of business are going through daily.
“There are many questions we must ask ourselves. Why is it that this is the only place where fuel is being distributed and it is distributed at so much pain? Where is the money made from the ports annually? I remember that we were told that these ports made N1.4 trillion in six months. Why is the money not reinvested in the port? About 3, 000 trucks load from the ports.
“I hope that the owners of the oil companies will also leave their desk and visit this place as a group to see how they make profit and the cost of that on the citizens. And one they see this, there will also be more improvement.”
He appealed to the tanker drivers to transport their product at night. “It is easier to move at this time. This is another way to transport fuel without inflicting pains on the residents. Doing this, it will suit both residents and the fuel operators. When you do this, resident will have opportunity to do business. It is not about enforcement but about doing business with compassion.”
According to him, many businesses have been shut down and thousands of people have been laid-off by their employers because they could no longer operate effectively in the axis. Harping on the ongoing expansion of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, he said that traders have converted the road to market noting that such act is another problem impeding the ongoing construction works.
Earlier the South West Public Relation Officer of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, (PTD), Mr. Tayo Aboyeji lamented that the state of insecurity in the country has made it impossible for tankers to move their products at night.
According to him, “90 percent of the fuel products used in the country comes through Lagos state. And when the trucks move at night, they are hijacked by hoodlums. And this happen immediately one leaves Lagos. “
