Senate passes Petroleum Tankers Safety Bill for Second Reading

A bill seeking to reduce frequent accidents by petroleum trucks
on Nigerian roads on Tuesday scaled through the second reading in
the Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP, Anambra
South), seeks to make consequential provisions towards safe
transportation of petroleum products across the country.

In his lead debate, Ubah said the bill became necessary to
provide a legal framework peculiar to that segment of the transport
sector, and to further strengthen existing collaborations between
government agencies on transportation of petroleum products by
roads.

He said the bill was inspired by the urgent need to promote
safety in the transportation of petroleum products using trucks,
and eliminate practices inimical to freight traffic and petroleum
haulage in Nigeria.

“It also seeks to promote the welfare of tanker drivers by
ensuring investments in Truck Transit Parks (TTPs) and related
transport infrastructure,” he said.

The lawmaker recalled the high incidences of crashes by
petroleum tankers over the years that often resulted into loss of
lives and properties.

“According to a study by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC),
between 2007 and 2010 alone a total of 4,017 tanker/trailer crashes
were recorded on Nigerian roads with the yearly average of 1,148
cases and monthly average of 96 crashes,” Ubah said.

The bill, he said, introduced a novel provision which is the
recognition of TTPs in selected locations across the country.

It also proposed the establishment of Freight Traffic
Liabilities Claim Tribunal to handle civil claims arising from
petroleum tanker crashes to ensure speedy dispensation of justice
to the victims.

Senators who spoke on the bill were unanimous on the urgent need
for legal framework to curb the menace.

Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North) said the bill provided
for a short term solution to the problem and called for
resuscitation of oil depots across the country to allow for the
delivery of petroleum products through pipelines as a long term
solution.

Utazi equally called for the rehabilitation of the nation’s
railway network as another safer alternative of transporting
petroleum products across the country.