NUPENG welcomes repair of Apapa-Wharf road, fears associated gridlock during work
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Thursday, raised fears over the possibility of the gridlocks coming with resumption of construction works on Apapa-Wharf Road to cause fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.
The South-West Chairman of the union, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, in an interview, said that since the inauguration of reconstruction of the road, petroleum tanker drivers had been on cue, finding it difficult to gain access to the tank farms to get products.
According to him, tank farms within the Apapa Marine Bridge Road received petroleum products from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which was to be distributed by petroleum tankers to different parts of the country.
He said “The reconstruction work on Apapa Wharf Road will affect loading of our petroleum tankers at the depots.
“Since the inauguration of reconstruction works, our tankers have queued up on the roads finding it difficult to gain access to tank farms.
“Even queuing of articulated vehicles, going to the port have blocked the access road and tankers have been on the same spot for three days now.
“We want to apply to NNPC to use its System 2B distribution channel to pump products to its depots in Mosinmi, Ejigbo, Ibadan, Ilorin and Ore so that most of the tankers will stop coming to Apapa to load.
“It is irrational now for tankers to come and load at Apapa tank farms because the access roads are blocked and traffic is the order of the day,’’ he said.
He called on NNPC to address the lingering issues before it degenerates into fuel scarcity, adding that the delay in getting petroleum products to filling stations would be seen as lack of products.
Business Hilights recalls that Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola had on Saturday signed a N4.34bn Memorandum of Understanding with Dangote Industries Limited, Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) and other stakeholders for reconstruction of the Apapa-Wharf Road.
The contract, coming on concrete overlay will be handled by AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd, an arm of the Dangote Group.
