For the sake of resident safety and traffic flow, Mayor Victor Ikeji, who is also the Chairman of the Umuahia North Local Government Area (LGA) in Abia State, has banned the loading and offloading of products from trucks in the Umuahia North metropolis from 7 am to 8 pm, daily.
The new approach is at odds with other executive directives that he canceled in the LGA.
The LGA Chairman, who issued the order through an executive order, stated that the ban was both immediate and necessary in light of the problems with traffic and disturbances to public order that have recently arisen in some urban areas of Umuahia as a consequence of the actions of truck drivers and owners of goods.
The LGA Chairman slammed truck drivers’ antics as “unwholesome” and ordered that from 7am to 8pm, wholesale and retail goods dealers in the Umuahia North metropolis could not unload or load their trucks on public roads, streets, or any other public space.
He told the impacted company owners to use the offloading and loading bays at Ubani Market and nearby parks all day, every day.
“Any wholesale/retail dealer or vendor of goods and services who violates the order would pay 200,000 fine or above,” Mayor Ikeji warned, before directing the appropriate law enforcement agencies and a team to enforce the order effectively and without prejudice.
In addition to this, the LGA will pursue other legal actions against the defaulter.
He emphasized that the council needs to give its approval for any alternative particular places for items to be loaded and offloaded.
However, while the LGA Chairman’s instruction has been met with approval by the majority of road users, a small number of truck owners who spoke with a DAILY POST reporter on Wednesday expressed concern that the strategy could leave them vulnerable to aggressive city touts and desperate tax agents.
Mismob Media