THE Federal Government has banned the importation of trailers and tankers exceeding ten years from the date of manufacture into the country. The ban is with effect from January 1, 2020.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, who made this known in a statement in Abuja, indicated that this was part of the resolutions of the stakeholder’s forum he convened to address the menace of crashes involving haulage vehicles in Nigeria.
The government has also ordered the Federal Road Safety Corps and other relevant agencies to ensure enforcement of compulsory installation of standard speed limiters in all haulage vehicles.
There would also be mandatory certification of all haulage vehicles to be carried out twice in a year.
Arising from the recent Road Traffic Crash (RTC) on Otedola bridge of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway where over 55 vehicles were burnt and multiple fatalities recorded, the SGF convened a consultative forum of all stakeholders from the private sector and Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies on Monday 9th July 2018 in his office.
The objective of the forum was to evolve an all-inclusive strategy that will bring about a lasting solution to the menace of road traffic crashes involving haulage and other related vehicles on Nigerian roads.
The stakeholders meeting came up with a plan of action endorsed by the Federal government for immediate implementation.
Other resolutions as contained in the statement personally signed by Boss Mustapha, include tankers without safety valves and the required number plates would henceforth be disallowed from loading product.
The safe-to-load programme would also continue to be enforced by relevant agencies at all loading points.
Other resolutions are: “Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other relevant Agencies should immediately harmonize operating safety requirements at all Tank Farms.
“Periodic checks of haulage vehicles must be carried out at relevant loading points.
“Payment of National Transportation Allowance (NTA) and bridging claims to tanker operators will henceforth be contingent on compliance to minimum safety standards.
“Single operators of haulage vehicles must be duly registered with National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and comply with Road Transport Safety Standardisation Scheme (RTSSS) provisions
“FRSC should establish appropriate command and control centres to monitor and ensure safety on the highways.
“Federal Highways (Control of Dimensions, Weights and Axle Load of Heavy Duty Goods Transport Vehicles) regulations (2018) will be enforced
“Loading limits as approved by Government will be enforced and the government will work closely with the Bank of Industry and other financial institutions towards the establishment of a Fleet Acquisition Renewal Scheme for haulage operators.
“Haulage vehicles conveying hazardous materials must be clearly labelled in conformity with the highway code.
“The Forum equally agreed that an Inter-Ministerial Stakeholders Committee should be set-up to ensure the effective implementation of the Plan of Action,” SGF said
