14th July, 2014
Kazeem Ugbodaga & Cyriacus Izuekwe
Sanity is gradually returning to the Apapa axis of the Mile 2-Apapa expressway which has been reeling under heavy traffic gridlock caused by the bad state of the road and oil tankers parked on both sides of the expressway.
Following yesterday’s visit to the area by Governor Babatunde Fashola, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA and Taskforce on Environment and Special Offences (Enforcement Unit) have moved in to control traffic in the area.
Fashola, who spoke after inspecting the level of traffic on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the ports, said on Sunday that the state would work with all stakeholders to ensure that normalcy returned to the Apapa Central Business District, CBD.
When our reporter visited the area this morning, the road was relatively free unlike before and the users attributed it to the presence of traffic officers who started work at the weekend.
At the Mile 2 axis, the road was free unlike before and this has reduced the cost of public transportation from N200 to N100 from Mile 2 to Apapa.
Policemen were around at Berger axis to control traffic. However, from Sunrise to Coconut area, there was still traffice gridlock as motorists had to divert through Ajegunle area to get to Apapa.
Governor Fashola accused the Federal Government of destroying Apapa, expressing dismay at the traffic gridlock which has crippled commercial activities in the area. Fashola called on the Federal Government to live up to its responsibility by restoring the infrastructure damaged in the area by oil tankers.
Speaking with newsmen after the inspection of the Tin Can Port Road and Creek Road, Fashola frowned at the deterioration in the area, saying the State Government is paying heavily for the damage caused by the mismanagement of the ports and fuel distribution by the Federal Government.
“You can see, this is where tankers fall every day, claiming lives, damaging peoples’ vehicles. It is a herculean task everyday that we have to remove one container or one fallen tanker from here all because of the mismanagement by the Federal Government of its Ports responsibility and of its fuel distribution responsibility.
“Our land has been desecrated; you can see the destruction, people living on the road simply because the Federal Government cannot manage the distribution of fuel.”
People are defecating in open drains, all the drains here have become refuse dumps all because the Federal Government wants to give us fuel,” he said.
Pointing out that the State Government did not benefit from all the revenue generated at the ports and from the fuel distribution, Fashola noted that “the Federal Government wants to run a port. Look at the roads here, they have all gone. And we don’t get derivation from oil but we pay so heavily for the distribution of fuel.
“Residents must know this is a Federal problem, it is not the State’s problem; the distribution of fuel is a Federal problem. The Federal Government must get up now and change the game and live up to its responsibility. Its mismanagement of fuel and the Port is destroying Apapa and destroying Lagos; this must stop.”