FCT Contractors Decry Exclusion From Abuja Park ‘n’ Pay Policy

As the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Transportation Secretariat gets set to reintroduce on-street parking also known as the ‘Park and Pay’ policy on Abuja streets, two contractors have decried their exclusion from the policy.

The contractors, Platinum Parking Management Services (PPMS) and Integrated Parking Services (IPS) said they were the pioneer parking management operators concessioned in 2008 to carry out parking management services in Abuja metropolis before the FCT Transport Secretariat brought in two additional companies to join parking operations.

The managing director/chief executive officer of Integrated Parking Services (IPS), Iliyasu  Abdu while speaking with journalists yesterday, said although the operation was suspended in 2014 due to legal issues, the transport secretariat recently re-engaged only two of the operators as it prepares to kick-start the policy.

“We are here today being the pioneer parking management operators concessioned to carry out parking management services otherwise tagged Park and Pay in Abuja metropolis.

“The project was first initiated by Platinum Parking Management Services (PPMS) in March 2004 which went to the tenders board in 2008 and eventually brought Integrated Parking Services (IPS).

“The two operators commenced operations professionally until the FCT Transport Secretariat brought in Two additional companies to join the parking operations.

“This action led to pandemonium, chaos and fighting on the streets of Abuja. The residents took one of the new operators, NAJEC, to court and the operation was suspended by Justice Peter Affen on April 14, 2014,” he said.

Iliyasu maintained that the two contractors were not informed on why they were excluded from the new policy, thereby appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene in the matter for the sake of justice and equity.