NURTW says removal of trucks and trailers along Abuja-Kaduna highway would reduce road insecurities

FG is evacuating all trucks and trailers parked on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway
The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has said it is evacuating trucks and trailers from the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway to ease road congestion. The chairman of the inter-ministerial committee on evacuation of truck and caravan on the right side of the road, Folorunsho Esan, disclosed this during an inspection of the road on Friday. Mr. Esan, who is also the Director of Roads, Construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, said the ministry would create a temporary park along Tafaa Kaduna road for vehicles to park. According to him, the park, which would host about 500 trucks, would help solve road problems and insecurity in the area. “According to the orders of the President, the Minister of Works and Housing has formed a committee to evacuate the trucks from the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road so that the contractors can fully take over the works on the road. “In addition, road users have free access without bottlenecks. So we are here to check the available options if trucks can be moved now. “One of the obvious bottlenecks is in Tafa and fortunately we have an empty plot bought by FERMA, although they could not do anything do with it. “However, we will move Tafa’s trucks to that lot after some improvements are made to the ground to prevent the trailers from sinking,” he said. Esan added that the commission will also look for land elsewhere if trucks cause traffic congestion. He said several unions like NATO, NURTW, Tanker Drivers and others were continuing to work with the government to get rid of their trucks soon. He said that according to the commission, all trucks must be off the road by the end of the year. Kamal Kaawache, site manager of the Julius Berger Nigeria Section 1 of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project, said the rock fill of the park would be suitable for the weight of the trucks. He said that due to the challenges of the new park, Bitumen Stabilized Materials, BSM will also need to be introduced to make the park stronger for truck and caravan parking. In response, Jere District Director Yusuf Suleiman promised to provide the necessary support to the ministry and those involved, which would cause the permanent evacuation of the trucks and trailers from the road. Suleiman Danzaki, Senior Special Assistant on Intergovernmental and International Relations and Road Transport Officer, National Union NURTW, said the committee must avoid a situation where traffic is disrupted after the park is commissioned. He recalled that the then Kashiri municipality, now Kagarko municipality, bought the park, but it was not used for reasons beyond the municipality’s control. Also, Abdullahi Haruna, a representative of the Kaduna Refinery Tanker Drivers Association, said the park should be user-friendly by providing basic facilities such as borehole, toilets and canteens. Haruna promised that tanker drivers are ready to cooperate with the commission to evacuate the trucks from the road. “If we have space to park, we will definitely not see trucks on the road, and if there is space, we are ready to leave the road even within a week,” he said. IN