The Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC) has said that the establishment of more Vehicle Transit Areas (VTAs) across the country will curtail rising road accidents involving haulage trucks.
Speaking to maritime and shipping sector stakeholders as he marked his one year in office in Lagos, Barrister Akuta Pius Ukeyima, Chief Executive Officer of the Council, disclosed that a recent study carried out by the Council showed that most truck accidents on Nigerian roads are caused by driver fatigue.
To address this, Ukeyima said he is collaborating with state governments and private investors through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to develop VTAs across the country.
He stated: "The Shippers Council has undergone a study that shows that most of those accidents that happen on the highway, on the roads, involving truckers, haulage vehicles on the road, is due to drivers' fatigue. That is the reason we undertake the construction of these vehicle transit areas.
"And now, more than ever before, there is the need to enforce the construction of these vehicle transit parks so that people will no longer be on the roads for uncountable hours.
"The African Charter on Road Transportation provides that the hours for a driver to be on the road should not be more than eight hours. But we see that that is not being implemented in Nigeria at the moment."
He noted that the Council is committed to ensuring that the VTAs are constructed adding, "We are speaking with some of the state governments who have shown interest in constructing them. We are also reviewing those consent agreements for VTAs, to see that we do not only give concessions to people, but then they are able to come forward with these VTAs.
"They are a very important and very critical component of the maritime infrastructure for inland transportation of cargo."
He also stressed the need for the development of inland dry ports, which he said is crucial to efficient cargo movement.
Ukeyima stated: "We are looking at those concession agreements with a view to ensuring that those concessionaires, if they do not have the capacity to develop this inland dry ports, we should be able to look elsewhere for investors that can collaborate with them.
"One of the things we have seen in the review of those concession agreements is that most of the concessionaires do not have the financial capacity to build those inland dry ports."
