The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, has disclosed that the federal government would review operations of tankers and trailers on roads.
Mr. Mustapha spoke at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Africa Transport Policy Programme (SSATP) annual general meeting held in Abuja.
The SSATP with 41 member states is an international partnership to facilitate policy development and related capacity building in the transport sector in Africa.
Reacting to the recent Lagos tanker fire, he said the government was meeting with various stakeholders over the review.
“We are taking a decision on it. In fact yesterday (Thursday), we had a structured meeting in my office with the key government agencies to review the operations of tanker drivers. On Monday, we are having a stakeholders meeting that will look at practical solutions,” he said.
He noted it’s only in developing economies that tanker drivers carry petroleum products while in most other places they use railways and pipelines.
“But you know there has been vandalism of pipelines which is a major challenge to us” he said, adding that the roads can’t last with huge tonnage.
Earlier, the Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari would on July 12 commission the Abuja light rail to boost mass transit.
He said the rail, also being constructed in Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt, is part of the government’s efforts to ease transportation problems.
