Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) have threatened to shut down operations over the deplorable state of roads in the country.
Consequently, the union has therefore directed its members to immediately embark on work to rule action with effect from tomorrow, in preparation for total withdrawal of their services with effect from October 8, 2021, if the Federal Government fails to address its demands.
The PTD made its position known in a communiqué issued at the end of PTD branch of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) executive meeting, which took place yesterday, in Enugu State.
The Chairman of PTD, Salmon Oladiti, expressed disappointment over the deplorable and shameful conditions of the highways, despite several calls and threats that it issued to government.
Oladiti, who lamented that the highways have turned into death traps and dens of truck hijackers, said his members are losing their lives and livelihoods on hourly basis.
“The list of these highways are endless and Petroleum Tanker Drivers have been going through harrowing situations, even while rendering selfless national services, to ensure delivery of petroleum products to homes and factories in every nook and crannie of this country, day and nights, in good and bad weather,” he said.
He expressed regrets that his members were usually the first casualties in all the areas of government failures, with regard to safety of lives and property of Nigerians.
Among other grievances, the council-in-session noted with deep concern, the Federal Government’s refusal to the enforce compulsory installation of safety valves in all petroleum trucks to protect the inflammable contents from spilling over during road mishaps.
The union said it sees the failure of the Federal Government in this regard as height of insensitivity to the lives of innocent Nigerians, stressing that the union cannot continue to fold its arms, while its members are daily getting burnt everywhere.
The workers said if safety valves were installed in petroleum trucks, it would go a long way in reducing the rate of fire accidents involving petroleum trucks.
The council-in-session also considered with pains and total disgust, the continued unscrupulous abuse of tonnage capacity of petroleum trucks by marketers and transporters across the country.
The union said the abuse was negatively affecting and impacting on the safety and control of drivers on the wheels, as well as the durability and sustainability of the highways.
