Uche Cecil Izuora
The Federal Government and key Petroleum Products marketers have proposed new measures to that will help curb rising cases of road accidents involving petrol tankers.
The recent incidents of road accidents resulting in cremation of hundreds of lives and causing extensive damage to properties was the focus of discourse organised by Mejor Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) in Lagos on Thursday.
The theme of the discourse “Improving Safe Transportation of Petroleum Products.” attracted top government officials, regulators, and industry stakeholders who shared critical insights on enhancing safety in petroleum logistics.
In his address at the forum, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri, expressed disgust over the number of casualties the country recorded recently due to tanker accidents.
Lokpobiri, spoke passionately about enhancing training for tanker drivers and installing detection leak devices to as well as other safety systems that can assist drivers.
He called on Marketers and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to enhance collaboration with stakeholders especially with training of tanker drivers.
Also, in his comments, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Ekperikpo Ekpo, reaffirmed government commitment to provide enabling environment to ensure safety of petroleum products transportation.
Ekpo, who was represented by Engineer Abel, said consideration should be given to more safety means of transporting products like the pipelines and railway line.
He also, supported better training for drivers and implementation of safety regulations within the industry.
Earlier, Chairman of MEMAN, Huub Stokman, said the Association has elaborate training manual for members truck drivers.
Stokman, said more training programmes and consistent adherence to safety measures would help to curb road accidents involving tanker drivers.
Also, speaking, the national President of Nigerian Association of Raod Transport Owners (NARTO) Yusuf Lawal Othman, called for support to marketers and NARTO in their efforts to replace rickety petrol tankers on the road.
Othman, identified aged vehicles as one of the causes of the crash
He said the Association is keying into Federal Government’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative as it is safer and more cost effective in transporting products.
The NARTO President re-echoed the need for consistent adherence to safety policies and training and re training of drivers.
The Executive Secretary of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketing Association of Nigeria (DAPPMA) Femi Adewole, said his Association maintains high level of truck integrity and ensures drivers are properly educated.
Adewole, said because Petroleum products distribution is usually outsourced individuals with few trucks may not have the necessary alignment with training and lacks maintenance culture due to scarcity of resources and thus creating more safety issues on the road.
He called on Government to intervene by providing loan to transporters to enable them refleet with modern and sound petrol tankers.