About 80 percent of the 10,000 petroleum tankers used for transporting products nationwide in the Republic of Nigeria lack critical safety features needed for the safe transportation of such commodities by road, Adetunji Oyebanji, Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, has claimed.
Mr Oyebanji said: “With about 10,000 trucks involved all over the country hauling products, majorly from the South to the North, about 80 percent of these trucks do not have anti-skid.
“They don’t have anti-rollover, anti-spill protection, automatic braking systems, onboard cameras and onboard tracking system required for safe transportation of petroleum products by road.”
Adetunji Oyebanji disclosed this in Abuja at the ‘Truck Renewal Workshop’ organised by Major Oil Marketing Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).
According to him, his outfit was in talks with NARTO on the need for fleet renewal, adding this would lead to the replacement of unsafe trucks in the fleet of transporters.
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The MOMAN chairman said pipelines remained the most effective and efficient means of transporting petroleum products, but stated that the idea of a truck renewal plan was not novel to Nigeria.
He said the idea had been carried out in neighbouring countries, whose trucks boast the requirement of safe petroleum transportation.
In her remarks, Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Mass Transit Administration, Angela Keyede, said most road accidents were caused by human errors, adding that such accidents could be avoided if drivers were disciplined enough while on roads.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com