Members threaten to withdraw trucks from Lagos ports

The Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has threatened to withdraw its members’ trucks from operating at the Lagos ports by Aug.26 if the deplorable roads there were not repaired.

Chief Remi Ogungbemi, the association’s chairman, who disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday said the roads were bad.

The association would direct its members to abandon work at the ports if the deplorable roads around the ports were not fixed by Aug. 26, Ogungbemi said.

"The bad roads in Apapa and Tin-Can Port areas have made the truck owners lose a lot in terms of spending to maintain the trucks always.

"We just have to withdraw our trucks from the roads in protest against the deplorable road conditions so that we do not keep on losing our trucks and lives," Ogungbemi said.

NAN reports that AMATO had continuously expressed its regrets about the situation and how it had affected their operations.

It had early in the month called for the fixing of the roads to avert the incessant falling off of containers from moving trucks, which in many cases had resulted in casualties.

Ogungbemi had also called on the relevant government authorities to regulate the quality of spare parts and lubricants used for their trucks which he said were critical in truck maintenance.