Land Transport Policy Will Ensure Road Safety – Transport Minister

Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, has said the newly approved National Land Transport Policy by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will improve regulations of the road sector and ensure safety.

The minister stated this when he met with members of the Abuja Transport and Aviation Correspondents Association (ATACA) in Abuja.

He also said the proposed six new bus terminals in six geopolitical zones of the country will include CNG stations, security stations and other morden facilities that would make the terminals world-class.

Elaborating more on the policy, the minister said: “This policy is the first of its kind in the history of this country,” noting that the transport sector is the most burdened mode of transportation in any part of the world.

“A lot of potential remain untapped here, and we feel we should harness all these potential by having a framework on which the sector needs to operate. With the passage of this policy, the framework is going to strengthen the sector.”

He further said: “We have moved the sector to the next level with the support and cooperation of the president and the Federal Executive Council with the approval of the contract for the construction of six bus terminals as a pilot scheme, one for each of the six geopolitical zones.

“The locations of sites are chosen on their economic viability, and this is just a pilot scheme. We are going to engage with the World Bank to continue with the development of these terminals.”

Speaking more on the proposed bus terminals, the minister explained that “these terminals will have CNG centers and the presence of security agencies because we have observed that most of the reasons behind these road traffic accidents is linked to drug abuse”.

Alkali said to further strengthen the security on the roads, government will be insisting on the use of manifest for the passengers that take off from the station, whether the buses belong to government or to private individuals, adding that “still, government has a responsibility to ensure safety.”

“So we need to have all these facilities on our roads, but certainly a journey of 1000 miles starts with a step.”

The minister also highlighted ongoing development in the rail sector, noting that “we have put our corridor on the Eastern narrow gauge from Port Harcourt to Aba to use. The project was just at the outskirt of Port Harcourt when we came in but by the grace of God Almighty, we are able to achieve Port Harcourt to Aba.

“It has been put into use since last year, and by the grace of God, we are working hard to see how we can as well put another corridor from Kaduna to Kano to use hopefully by the end of or before the end of next year.

“We are also working on from Kano to Katsina with a branch line in Jigawa State. They have already started laying the rail tracks in Jigawa State. So all these are monumental achievements that the government has achieved in the last two years in the transportation sector,” he stated.

He emphasised that transportation is a gateway to the economy of any nation with the capacity to boost growth and improve the livelihood of citizens.