The Lagos State Government has cautioned property owners and operators of event centres/religious centres or other places of attraction to desist from compounding traffic gridlock on roads around their locations. The announcement was made on Sunday by the Commissioner for Transportation, Frederic Oladeinde.
The commissioner while reading the riot act to owners of event centres and places of attraction, specifically cited the Lekki-Expressway where several man-hours were lost on Saturday due to traffic gridlock and apologised to residents for the road blockage occasioned by activities of the event centres.
‘‘Henceforth, any social event where the number of expected visitors exceeds 50, organizers of such event must notify the General Manager of LASTMA in advance, especially, if it is perceived that their property would not accommodate large numbers of vehicles that may be brought by their guests.
“The LASTMA authority will be on hand to advise them on what to do rather than allowing their visitors to block roads as this will attract stiffer penalties if caught.
“The state government will no longer condone parking of vehicles on the roadside, failure of the operators/ property owners to make provision for adequate parking space for their guests,” Oladeinde said.
He said that the gridlock was caused by motorists who could not secure parking space in the venues of their social gathering and resorted to parking their vehicles on the roadsides, causing permanent traffic gridlocks.
The commissioner stated that it was regrettable that innocent citizens who were going about their lawful duties were forced to share in the pains caused by merrymakers.
Mr Oladeinde warned that any commercial event centre, place of worship, night club/lounge, or private property owners caught on account of illegal blockage of roads by their attendants would be closed until their owners paid the stipulated fines.
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