With the recent
incessant crashes of tankers, the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety
Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi, visited the Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum
and Natural Gas Workers/Petroleum Tanker Drivers (NUPENG-PTD) in Abuja to
register the concerns of the Corps and that of Government on the unwarranted
loss of lives, loss of properties and damage to roads and the highways.
The Head Media Relations
and Strategy of the Corps, Bisi Kazeem, revealed that in a no holds bar meeting
with NUPENG-PTD, the Corps Marshal expressed his concerns that in the past two
and a half weeks about 11 tankers have been involved in crashes; hence, he
called on the two organizations to have a joint decision to halt the trend.
According to Kazeem, the
Corps Marshal noted thus: “most tankers do not have valves and whenever they
fall, there is spillage of fuel and a resultant inferno occurs”. He stressed
that it is against this backdrop the Corps Marshal has ordered the impoundment
of any tanker without valves plying the Nigerian roads.
The Corps Marshal used
the special occasion to advice NUPENG-PTD on maintenance of their articulated
vehicles, and as well ridding the roads of rickety tankers engaged in the
business of transporting petroleum products.
In his response, the
Chairman of NUPENG-PTD, Otunba Salmon Oladiti thanked the Corps Marshal for the
respect he has for the Union and enduring willingness to consult with the Union
rather than wielding the big stick.
He revealed that on his
part as the Chairman of the Union, he has devoted time to talking with the
drivers, training them, and dissuading them from engaging in night journeys and
other vices. He added that the Union has engaged Consultants in the past
and equally set up task force to arrest recalcitrant tanker drivers.
He stated that
nevertheless, he is ready to partner FRSC to stem road carnage, and expressed
his delight that the training and retraining of tanker drivers will start all
over again in January. He used the occasion to invite the Corps Marshal to
their next National Executive Commitee(NEC) to talk to them on how best to use
the highways and how to avoid crashes.
The Chairman gave thumbs
up to the FRSC for the large deployment of men to Nigerian roads and advised
the Corps Marshal to talk to Construction Companies to place adequate
diversion signs around construction sites to help stem road carnages.
Otunba Salmon used the
opportunity to send a word of appeal to the Federal Government to assist his
Union and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) in granting
soft loans to fund replacement of rickety articulated vehicles plying the
roads, as the recession has made it quite difficult for transport operators to
fund the replacement on their own.
Tags
Society