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THE NATION MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2011
MOTORING
Taxi drivers criticise FCT new transport scheme T HE Abuja Taxi Owners and Drivers
Welfare Association has said the plan by the Federal Capital Torritory (FCT) authorities to have them registered under its new licenced transport companies scheme is unfair. Chairman of the association, Mr Francis Nwaobudo, said this at a news conference in Abuja. Nwaobudo said that the scheme, if implemented, would render thousands
of registered taxi drivers in the FCT jobless and their dependants hungry. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FCT authorities have concluded plans to introduce a new transport scheme under its Greater FCT Operators’ Licence Scheme. Under the scheme, the authority plans to inject more than 100 high capacity mini- buses and taxis to be managed by five companies, which it
had licenced to provide and carry transport services in the city. The existing transporters are expected to register under the five licenced companies to remain in business. The companies include Messrs Abuja Transport Cooperative Society Painted Taxi, City Cab Express Limited Painted Taxi, Print Field Enterprise Taxi, Typical Messrs CDN limited and Shaanni Auto Limited. “It would be most inhu-
FRSC decries commercial vehicle operators’attitude
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HE Bauchi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Zakariya Mamman, has decried the nonchalant attitude of inter-state commercial bus operators plying the Bauchi route. Mamman told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi that the attitude of the drivers had been made worse by passengers even in obvious threat to their lives. “Most passengers hardly pick interest in checking the excesses of drivers of vehicles they use while travelling. Passengers hardly caution drivers even when it becomes obvious that their lives are in danger. “A greater percentage of the blame as to the
causes of most accidents should probably go to the passengers who often remain passive and allow drivers to toy with their lives. “Passengers must cultivate the habit of checking reckless driving because they are in a better position to do so. They are in the vehicles and can judge whenever the drivers are violating traffic rules,” he said. He blamed fatal accidents in Bauchi on reckless driving by inter-state commercial bus operators, saying that such drivers were always in a hurry and as such they overspeed and overtake other vehicles dangerously. “Most of them are al-
ways in a hurry and so they maintain their speed even where they are supposed to be careful. When slight mistakes occur, ghastly accidents are recorded. “Life has no spare part but some of these drivers do not care. Unfortunately, their negligence affects other law-abiding citizens.” Mamman noted that the FRSC had been doing its best to curtail the excesses of such drivers, but stressed that it required a collaborative effort of both the passengers and the corps to check the drivers. He said the corps would report drivers, especially those working for mass transit companies, for violating traffic rules while in transit through the state to their employers.
man to ask our members, who had been in the business of offering town services since the inception of the FCT to now go and join the employment of private companies,” the chairman said. According to him, the scheme is “tantamount to enslavement, extortion and most unfair”. He noted that the scheme, if not properly handled, could “ offend the sensibility of the right thinking members of the public’’.
He alleged that the registered companies were being managed by capitalist, who were only interested in making money without having the interest of commuters. He further said the leadership of the association had met with the FCT authorities several to tell them that the proposed scheme would not only be detrimental to taxi drivers in the city, but also to commuters. He added that efforts to make the authority have
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Lagos warns auto, spare parts dealers against unauthorised locations
AGOS State government has warned auto and spare parts dealers who operate in illegal places to relocate to the designated locations as their activities constitute environmental nuisance. Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Kayode Opeifa, gave the warning during a stakeholders’ forum with operators of Auto Spare Parts Dealers, organised by the Lagos State Motor Vehicle Administration Agency, (MVAA) . The event was held at the Lagos State Educational Resource Centre, Ojodu. Opeifa, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, MVAA, Mr Akin Hanson, said the government had put in its best to ensure
that auto dealers in the state operated in a better environment but lamented that the laws of the state where not being complied with. “In spite of these user-friendly, easily accessible registration platforms, compliance with the law have been very low. Rather than operating from the envisaged environmentfriendly auto marts and decent premises, auto dealers have turned sidewalks, setbacks, eateries, fuel stations and inner city roads into display centre. “For example, the whole stretch of the O s h o d i - A p a p a Expressway is littered with all manners of used and disused vehicles clogging the sidewalks and impeding vehicular and pedestrian traffic. This is totally unacceptable,” he lamented. He informed that the government had in the past adopted a human approach in e n f o r c i n g compliance and imposing sanctions on illegal auto dealers while the MVAA had organised periodic stakeholders meetings and awareness campaigns on the legislation and the intention of government. “Let me say that the government remains unshakable in its resolve to rid the sidewalks, setbacks and other unauthorised places of displayed vehicles, which constitute a serious threat to public safety. “Such wrongly displayed vehicles may henceforth be regarded as abandoned and disused vehicles which the newly constituted
a rethink on the proposed scheme had proved abortive and therefore, called on President Goodluck Jonathan, the FCT Minister and other stakeholders to intervene. “We appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan, who our members campaigned vigorously for by carrying his fresh air poster on our vehicles to come to our aid,’’ Nwaobudo said.
Abandoned and Disused Vehicles Committee, LASTMA and other relevant law enforcement agencies have been mandated to remove. The vehicles will be towed to LASTMA’s enforcement yard at the owners’ expense,” he warned. The c o m m i s s i o n e r added that the government was worried by the unco-operative attitude of some auto spare parts dealers to compliance with the law, saying that auto spare parts dealers constituted a critical component of the vehicle usage and repair chain, stressing that their operations had significant security and safety implications. Hanson said the stakeholders’ forum was designed to enable stakeholders to rub minds on how best to achieve voluntary compliance; map out strategies to further discourage unregistered auto and auto spare parts dealers and appreciate the features and benefits of two MVAA products. The new products are the Temporary Vehicle Tag (TVT) and the Automotive Dismantling and Recycling, (ADR) Permit. Hanson, whose speech was read by the Director, Finance and Administration in the agency, O l u b u k u n o l a Omolaja, said the two products would help reduce vehicle theft and other vehicle-related crimes, curb accidents caused by the recklessness of drivers delivering new vehicles and enable security agencies to track the sources of auto spare parts.