The
Federal Government has said that its comprehensive roadmap on the transport
sector is aimed at addressing the challenges in the critical economic sector
holistically.
The Vice
President Arc Mohammed Namadi Sambo, made this known on Tuesday, when he commissioned
100 high capacity buses, procured by the FCT Administration under the Subsidy
Reinvestment and Empowerment-Programme (SURE-P), which held at the Eagle
Square, Abuja.
The
Vice President who noted that the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration
sees the transportation sector as very crucial to the attainment of economic
and social wellbeing of the people said “the comprehensive roadmap examines the
sources of attaining such lofty targets through a huge financial investment to
be sourced through public sector investment as well as
Public-Private-Partnership (PPP).”
Vice
President Sambo stressed the determination of the Administration to ensure that
the capital city had a world class transport network system that will connect
it with the rest of the country, maintaining that “when completed, these
transport systems will significantly ease the problems of accommodation and
transportation in the city as workers would rather choose to live in the
satellite towns and commute to work in these improved and efficient mass
transit systems.”
While
commending the FCT Administration for delivering on its promise to provide
adequate and efficient transportation service for residents and visitors to the
FCT, The Vice President charged the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company
(AUTMCO), to ensure that the buses were “administered in line with global best
practice and to embrace a healthy maintenance culture.”
Similarly,
Arc Sambo enjoined the “public, who are the beneficiaries of this service, to
reciprocate this gesture of the provision of brand new buses that would charge
minimal rates by making sure you pay the modest fares.”
In his
remarks the Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, who stated that the
buses were fitted with state of the art facilities to ensure security, safety
and comfort of the passengers, also boast of affordable fares. He also
disclosed that the administration plans to inject 200 of such buses annually in
the next three years and also plans to setup an assembly plant in Abuja for the
assembly of these buses.
Earlier
the Managing Director of AUMTCO, Abdulrazaq Oniyangi, disclosed that with the
injection of the 100 buses into its fleet, it now has 392 buses, capable of
transporting 100,000 commuters daily. He stressed that the company was making
efforts to automate its ticketing system, stressing that it has zero tolerance
to reckless driving.
Goodwill
messages came from the Chairman of SURE-P, Lt. Gen Martins Luther Agwai (rtd),
as delivered by the President of NURTW, Alhaji Najeem Yasin, Chairman Senate
Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi, Chairman Senate Committee on SURE-P,
Senator Abdul Ningi, as well as the Deputy Chairman House Committee on FCT,
Hon. Raphael Uzochi Nnanna.
Present
at the event were the Governor of Kogi State, Capt. Idris Wada, , Minister of
Tourism and Culture, Chief Edem Duke and the Minister of State, FCT, Oloye
Olajumoke Akinjide. Also at the event were royal fathers, top government
functionaries and members of the public.
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