The Federal Government has expressed its intention to ban the importation of articulated trucks older than 10 years, in order to curb the frequent petroleum tanker crashes on roads
The government equally directed the Federal Road Safety Corps to commence the enforcement of the maximum load capacity of 45,000 litres of petroleum products by trucks.
These were part of the resolutions reached by the Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria and the National Association of Road Transport Owners at the renewal workshop held on September 24, which has now been scheduled for implementation during a follow-up meeting held at the Federal Road Safety Corps national headquarters Abuja, on Monday.
A statement on Tuesday by the FRSC spokesman, Bisi Kazeem, titled, ‘FG takes measures with strategic stakeholders against petroleum tanker crashes,’ disclosed that the FRSC Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi represented the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, at the event.
The statement also disclosed that the meeting recommended that the SGF should consider securing a Presidential directive for urgent intervention in the provision of soft loans for truck renewal using a similar template as applicable to pharmaceutical companies and other sectors of the economy at the peak of COVID -19.
The stakeholders equally buttressed the need for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to re-activate the vandalised pipelines to reduce the burden on the roads during transportation of petroleum products.
The statement read in part, “Members further called for a timeline to be set for the enforcement of the maximum load capacity of 45,000 litres of petroleum products by trucks operating from the tank farms across the country.
“The meeting resolved that enforcement of all safety standards including anti-skid, anti-rollover and anti-spill (safety valves) be prioritized within a given time frame as outlined in the similar communiqué reached in 2018.”
“The government should consider issuing directives on enforcement of the 10-year policy on importation of trucks so that any articulated vehicle that is beyond 10 years of age should not be allowed into the country”, it added.
