Following the meeting between the Lagos State Government and tanker owners over the recent tanker accidents and explosions in Lagos, the government, Monday, set up a committee to examine the immediate and remote causes of the tanker fire incidents.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode disclosed this after a closed door meeting with representatives of the Petroleum Products Tanker Drivers’ Union and other stakeholders at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja.

According to the Governor, the Committee, which has two weeks to submit its report, is to be chaired by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Tunji Bello.

The Committee is also expected to prepare guidelines on ethical conducts for drivers of tankers and other heavy duty vehicles in the state.

Members of the Committee, as announced by the Governor, are the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and his counterpart in the Ministry of Special Duties; the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations; the State Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC); and representative of Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA).

Others are the representatives of Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

“In addition to its terms of reference, the committee would quickly engage the Insurance industry and relevant stakeholders to meet and work out appropriate insurance policy to protect Lagosians from havoc that may occur in future tanker incidents,” the Governor said.

Ambode also said that it was in the interest of the people for the state government to extend the enforcement of traffic laws to all drivers in the state. He said: “It is not only tanker drivers that are offenders, we know that all drivers must come under the enforcement of our traffic laws.”

He described last Saturday’s petroleum tanker explosion in the state as “one too many,” adding that his administration would urgently look into ways of facilitating easy access to insurance cover for the public to mitigate loss of assets and investments in the event of fire disasters.

In his remark, the Secretary to the State Government and Chairman of the Committee, Tunji Bello, advised tanker owners to look into the conduct of their drivers with a view to stemming “reckless driving, driving under the influence of hard drugs and driving of tankers by under-aged drivers also known ‘motor boys’.”

The meeting was attended by stakeholders and representatives of the FRSC, LASTMA, NUPENG, NARTO, AMATO, Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and Lagos State Police Command.

 

Source: Dailytrust.com.ng

Photo Credit: Lindaikeji

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