HomeBenue NewsBenue govt to reactivate abandoned designated bus-stops in Makurdi

Benue govt to reactivate abandoned designated bus-stops in Makurdi

From Attah Ede, Makurdi
The Benue State Commissioner for Transport and Energy, Barrister Omale Omale , said the State government will soon launch transport sector policy in order to roll out transportation programmes for the people of the state.

Barrister Omale who disclosed this to newsmen in Makurdi, said his ministry is equally working towards establishment of a road traffic management agency to curb indiscriminate parking amongst transporters operating in the state.

According to him, the ministry’s core mandate is to regulate the transport sector in the State and that can only be driven on a strength of clear-cut transport policy in the State.

He maintained that, already the technical and advisory committee on transport sector policy in Benue State are currently working on a legislative framework that would ensure a comprehensive transport law that can determine how the transport sector in the State could be managed generally.

According to him, the ministry’s core mandate is to regulate the transport sector in Benue State and that can only be driven on a strength of clear-cut transport policy in the State.
“Establishment of the agency will promote traffic regulation, control and ensure smooth traffic flow in the state.

“Part of this law will be intervention for Benue State road traffic management agency. The road traffic management agency would be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that transport related activities in the State are carried out or conducted in a manner that is organised as proscribed by the law.

“To carry out transport services in the State, the procedures, the routes and the designated bus stop would be a matter of law.

“The agency would be adequately staffed to ensure this law is totally comply with. When that happens, it would also address the issue of indiscriminate parking, to tell town services bus operators where not to park, pick up passengers and even where to stop.

“There will be terminals for those transporters coming into or going out of Benue State . It is that terminal that they drop or pick up passengers as designated areas rather than indiscriminate parking.

“We are worried over the spate of indiscriminate activities on the town service buses. That was not the case before now. Town services have been redesigned for Benue State in the past. We have designated areas for bus-stop and then suddenly that was taken off by distraction on the side of the government.

“Those bus-stops are no longer in use and those designated parks are non-existent. So part of the reforms we are undertaking for the ministry is to redesign the city centres in Benue State again.

“The reorganisation and reformation is currently ongoing. By the time we are done, the state would launch a pilot scheme and then we can have a total overhaul of the transport which is currently in the hands of the informal sector”, he said .

Barrister Omale noted that Benue State in the past, the transport services were largely in the informal sector and at the same time, there was no ministry of transport, stressing that, now that there is such ministry, the state government would overhaul the transport system in the state before calling on the private individuals to come and engage in transport business in the state.

He maintained that Benue requires comprehensive reform of the transport sector with focus on mass transit and urban transport systems.

“The mass transit is targeted at our urban transportation programme and the component beneficiaries would be civil servants alongside the students and residents within urban city areas of Benue State. The state would soon launch a pilot one in Makurdi targeting three other intervening areas in Otukpo , Gboko and Katsina-Ala respectively”.

Daily Asset

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