The Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations (COMTUA) last Thursday embarked on road show in and around the Apapa and Tincan Island ports to sensitize the maritime community of the existence of the new body which is an amalgamation of six trucking unions and associations operating within the maritime environment.
The road show which took off from the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) Secretariat at Kofo Abayomi Street, Apapa made brief stop at some designated points like Nnewi building, Creek Road, Warehouse Road Junction, Tincan First and Second Gates among others where leadership of the body took time to address the truck drivers in the three major native languages of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba.
Speaking to newsmen on the essence of the road show, the National Coordinator of the COMTUA, Mr. Stephen Ugochukwu Okafor that the transport unions and associations in the maritime sector decided to come together to engage with one voice, all government agencies, terminal operators, shipping companies and other stakeholders so as to solve the multifarious problems of the industry, particularly to restore sanity on the port access roads and get rid of the Apapa gridlock.
Okafor noted that COMTUA was working to ensure free flow of traffic to the ports and terminals as well as to possibly minimize or stop extortions on the roads, intimidation of drivers, harassment and destruction of their vehicle accessories by the security agencies and protect the business of their members.
He pointed out that the body was partnering with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Federal Joint Task Force to ensure that all trucks were moved to the various parks and garages saying, “it is only when NPA gives you call up that you can come and go to the terminal or port that you have business”.
“If you do not have call up or if you do not have any business to do, you do not have need to be on the road, you remain in your garage. By so doing, we would have been able to curb the traffic situation along the Apapa and Tincan ports access roads”.
He explained that the essence of asking all the trucks to go to the garages was that in all the designated parks, the body’s task force presence would be established in such a way that before one leaves the park, he would have concluded all his documentations and show the identification which would be issued by the body as evidence that such truck was going to a particular terminal adding that “Only on that note the task force can allow you to move. So, if they allow you to move, you don’t have business with the Navy, you don’t have business with any task force on the road”.
On what becomes of those trucks which come from outside Lagos and did not have garages and parks in Lagos, the National Coordinator said,” We have made arrangements for a big park at Ogere which will serve as their stopping point and call up will also be generated from there in such a way that it is only when you have a business and call up that you can leave there and go straight to where you want to do business”.
Speaking on getting the security officials to stop extorting their members, Okafor added,” That is why we have come up. We believe in dialogue as responsible and law abiding citizens of the country. We have been dialoguing with the Joint Task Force made up of the Navy, Army, Police, LASTMA and what have you. We are also dialoguing with NPA on possible way of doing this. We are not chasing the law enforcement agencies out of the road because their functions and performance cannot be overemphasized but what we are against is the huge extortion that they are collecting from our members and beating of drivers. So, those are the issues we want to stop hence the reason we are coming together”.
On what becomes the fate of those truck drivers who refused to remove their trucks on the road on the expiration of the one week notice, he said,” That is why we are partnering with the law enforcement agencies, we are not armed, we are aware but drivers hear our language and you can see us sensitizing them but for anyone that will prove stubborn, we will request the law enforcement agency to deal with such stubborn driver”.
Speaking on the fate of the umbrella body known as the Joint Council of Seaport Truckers (JCOST), Mr. Okafor who is also the General Manager, Operations, NARTO said, “The collaboration we have now has been enlarged; other new unions and associations that came on board are part of this COMTUA while JCOST was limited to some unions and associations. They have done their best and we have dissolved it and come up with this new body where everybody is involved”.
COMTUA is made up of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Amalgamation of Container Truck Owners Association and Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO).
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