Truck owners in the country have expressed fear that the new traffic law introduced by Lagos State Government will leave them at the mercy of armed robbers, who will attack their trucks at night.
The truck owners, who assessed the implication of the restriction order on their activities in Lagos, condemned the new law. They maintained that the exemption of fuel tankers from the restriction order indicates that most of the fuel tankers belonged to those in power.
They also noted that the law, which prescribed N50,000 fine and the impounding of trucks plying the roads during the day, was another way of extorting them. They said the policy would lead to congestion in the ports as many trucks will not be able to cope with the volume of cargo coming into the ports.
President of Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO, Chief Remi Ogungbemi, told newsmen that the association would make effort to dialogue with the state government to resolve the issue.
He added that the road traffic law was capable of sending most of the truck owners out of business as the law was not favourable to them and might expose truck drivers to danger at night.
Ogungbemi called on the state government to rescind the decision considering its negative impact on the economy of the nation.
Also speaking, Chief Eneh, Vice Chairman of Joint Council of Trucks, said the law was not acceptable to them, adding that they would seek legal means to stop the government from implementing same as a lot of workers in trucking industry would lose their jobs.
Another stakeholder, Mr. Ibrahim Omotayo, said the law was not bad, as its workability remained the major problem as there are no parking spaces, the roads are bad and the security situation leaves much to be desired.
Vanguard
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