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Oyo State Government has impounded 50 trucks at Iwo Road area of Ibadan for parking indiscrimately and causing obstruction to free flow of traffic along the Ibadan-Lagos expressway.
The Chairman, Oyo State Road Transport Management Agency(OYRTMA), Dr. Akin Fagbemi, who led officers of the agency to carry out the exercise, said the move was aimed at sanitising highways in the state and ensure free flow of traffic.
Addressing the drivers of the impounded vehicles, Fagbemi said the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration is not out to make life unbearable for the people. He noted that the administration will do everything within the ambit of the law to woo foreign direct investors by creating enabling environment devoid of avoidable and perpetual traffic gridlocks.
He said: “You may recall that we recently announced the approval by the governor for immediate use of a 250-trucks capacity parking space at our Sanyo operational center. While frantic efforts are on to secure other parking spaces across the state, we implore all heavy duty vehicle operators to utilize the available park and desist from indiscriminate parking on the highways as this is highly inimical to other road users as well as the fact that it cripples economic activities within the state.
“This operation is not to witch-hunt anybody. We are aware of the technical implications of the continuous parking of this heavy-duty vehicles whose imposing weights far supersedes that of the designed load-carrying capacity of the highways thus destroying the roads by creating portholes at different sections of the highways.
“We therefore enjoin all trailer operators within the state to cooperate with the State Government to achieve free flow of traffic across the 33 local government areas of the state.”