The Nation Newspaper

Category: Transportation

  • Ebola: FRSC distributes protective gears to officers

    THe Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has provided its officers with protective tools to protect them from the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Boboye Oyeyemi who stated this in Abuja, said such measures were aimed at protecting them.

    He said protective tools such as sanitisers, gloves, nose guards, clinic gowns and others were provided for the officers because they are usually in contact with people in the course of their duty.

    Oyeyemi, who spoke at a strategic session with commanding officers at the COMASE Training Hall of FRSC, said: “The Corps’ operatives are in constant contact with victims of road crashes. We equally provide medical services to members of the public at all our road side clinics on strategic highways; hence the need to provide these gears for our men in order to safe guard them from unforeseen circumstances especially the raging Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).”

    Oyeyemi said the training and strategic session was informed by the need for the Corps to appraise and strengthen its policies as the countdown to the end of 2014 begins. He said the session is a platform to evaluate the Corps’ projections and activities to achieve set goals.

    “We are looking to further strengthen our policies that we have been working on. And as we are moving towards the end of the year, there is need for us to appraise the level of patrol operations and the crashes, to be able to take important policy decisions so as to move forward to achieve the goals set for the year. In addition, we are aware of the risk our personnel are involved in both in office and especially during rescue operations on the highway. The essence of this is safeguarding our personnel against contracting the Ebola virus while on duty.”

    The management would be providing the necessary tools such as sanitisers, the gloves, the gabs, everything required. And also our clinics especially the roadside clinics we have already provided protective gabs for them so that when they have contact with members of the public they are protected, because during rescue operations, during removal of obstructions we do have contacts with other people so we must ensure that we protect our personnel which is critical,” he said.

  • Nigerian heads Africa Railway Workers union

    The President-General of the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers (NUR), Comrade Raphael Benjamin Okoro, has been elected President of Africa Railway Workers Union (ARWU).

    Okoro was elected at the 43rd World Congress of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) in Sofia, Bulgaria.

    “The election of our Comrade President-General to this lofty position is in recognition of his experience and exemplary leadership he has been giving at both local and international circles of trade union activities and we strongly believe that this will significantly advance the prominence of the rail transport sub-sector of the continent and that of our nation at the centre stage of the world in general,” Deputy President-General of NUR, Comrade Yakubu Mohammed said.

    ITF was founded in 1896 as a global federation of transport workers’ trade unions. ARWU, African Charter of ITF, is the Trade Union platform through which ITF coordinates its numerous affiliate trade unions in Africa among which is Nigeria Union of Railway Workers.

    Okoro began his trade union activities in 1982, when he was elected the union branch Chairman of the Eastern District of Nigerian Railway. He rose to the post of National Trustee in 1999. He became the President-General of the NUR in 2007 through a keenly contested election. He returned un-opposed as President-General of the NUR in 2011.

  • How minister can drive transport agenda

    How minister can drive transport agenda

    The Federal Ministry of Transportation (fmot) has a critical  role to play to enable the government meet the people’s transportation needs, the Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Alhaji Bukar Aji has said.

    Aji, who chairs the Federal Government’s Teer Review Team (PRT), said the FMoT must continue to uphold best practices as it drives the government’s transport initiatives.

    He spoke in Abuja, when the PRT visited the ministry as part of its peer review activities.

    Aji said the FMoT has delivered on its mandate to reposition public transportation to meet Nigerians’ yearnings.

    The PRT which comprises all federal Permanent Secretaries, is a self appraisal team meant to ensure that ministries adopt best global practices in service delivery.

    Aji said the visit is to assess the ministry’s compliance with policy guidelines on the relationship between the Permanent Secretaries and their political heads as well as between union members and the management.

    He said the reform initiative is to ensure efficiency and high productivity in the civil service, reiterating that the body of Permanent Secretaries has taken up the challenge of continuous review through peer review mechanism for accountability and results.

    FMoT Permanent Secretary Nebolisa Emodi said the ministry’s achievements included resuscitation and revitalisation of the Nigeria Railway for passenger and goods haulage, completion of feasibility studies on rail system, increase use of inland waterways to stimulate economic activities, enhancement of maritime safety and security and good welfare system for the staff among others.

    The  rehabilitation of the 1,124 km Lagos-Kano western line, he said, has been completed and is functional. Work on the 1,657 km long Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri called the Eastern line was progressing, he said, with the Port Harcourt – Jos station, including the branch line from Kafanchan to Kaduna to be completed by the end of August.

    He added that the construction of Abuja (Idu) – Kaduna Standard Gauge rail is 85per cent completed, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, noting that the construction of Lagos – lbadan standard gauge (double track) 2 x180km  has been awarded.

    Emodi described the  relationship between the management and the joint unions as cordial, saying that issues are resolved through dialogue.

    The Minister of Transport,  Sen. Idris Umar who also received the team in his office commended them for the Peer Review Mechanism initiative urging them to sustain the efforts in other to achieve effective and efficient service delivery in the country.

  • White paper on boat mishap coming

    The WhitePaper on the report of the committee that probed the immediate and remote causes of the Majidun/Ikorodu boat mishap would soon be released, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation,  Mr. Kayode Opeifa, has said.

    He said the 11-man committee headed by the Director, Public Transportation and Commuter Service, Mr. Olajide Tairu, came up with ways to halt incessant boat mishaps in the state.

    Opeifa said the report would form the basis of government’s actions and policy direction in preventing a recurrence.

    He added that the committee is mandated to ascertain and determine the immediate and remote causes of the April 2, boat mishap in Ikorodu and similar boat mishaps in the past as well as ascertain and confirm details of the accident.

    “It will look into the roles of all concerned persons, institutions and agencies and make recommendations as might be considered necessary to avoid a recurrence of such incidents, promote safe practices and adherence to safety standard in water transportation in the state,” he said.

    Opeifa had previously told the Lagos State House of Assembly probe panel on the incident that the mishap occurred when the boat ran into a log in the water, which damaged the vessel and led to its sinking, adding that the incident could have been avoided if the boat driver had maintained normal speed.

    The commissioner accused some boat owners of illegally operating their vessels without official registration and licence as required by law.

    According to him, they are in the habit of overloading the boats against the stipulated number of passengers at any given time, even as some boats lack facilities such as life jackets, fire fighting equipments, security lights, especially when traveling at night and under hazardous conditions, and communications gadgets for distress calls.

  • ‘Investment in road crucial’

    ‘Investment in road crucial’

    The Lagos State government has restated the need for investment in road infrastructure to attain safe, efficient and reliable multi-modal transportation.

    The Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, said at the yearly public lecture and award night of the Association of Professional Women Engineers, (APWEN), Lagos State that as an important component of the economy transportation has significant impact on the development and welfare.

    He said: “When transport systems are efficient, they provide economic and social opportunities and benefits that result in better accessibility to markets, jobs, improved logistics and additional investments.”

    Opeifa spoke on the theme: Infrastructural development in sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities amidst challenges.

    The commissioner, who praised the group for picking the theme, said the state planned its public transportation system in response to its status as the economic hub of Nigeria and West Africa, because it considered transportation as a catalyst for the huge expected economic activities.

    “Infrastructure provision remains key to an efficient transportation system and for Lagos State, it is not negotiable. Transportation itself which is the management of the free flow of people, goods and services from one point to the other  entails such modes as rail, road, water, air, telecommunications, pipeline, conveyor belt, logistics and supply chain management.

    Transportation infrastructure according to the commissioner, is not limited to just hardware such as highways, rail tracks or jetties, but the more complex arrays of logistics, software, programmes, applications and the less suspecting furniture; such as traffic signal lights (TSL), pavement markings, kerbs, medians, buoys, signals etc, that make distribution and movement more functional.

    The development of these arrays of hardware, software, complex and functional infrastructure, Opeifa reiterated, is critical to a sustainable development and the delivery of these, has become the pre-occupation of his ministry and its agencies.

    The state government, Opeifa added, regards its investments in these areas, not as challenges but opportunities that must not be missed.

    He told the women engineers that the state government in the last 16 years had invested among others; on creating segregated lanes for the BRT system, creating over 200,000 road signages, and over 100 traffic signal lights to complement traffic management, to support an integrated multi modal transport system.

    “Other infrastructure put in place by the government are the Pavement Markings of over 200 roads spanning over 202 kilometres to ensure road discipline and improved road safety, the Lagos Traffic Radio for improved road use planning, education and advocacy; School Traffic Safety Advocacy Programme (STSAP), for primary and secondary school children and the driver institute to ensure that only competent professional drivers are handling commercial public transportation, for road safety and recently the Lagos State Public Transportation System Database platform which is meant to develop proper management of the public transportation system. “We will not be fulfilled until the rail track infrastructure is delivered to move our people daily,” Opeifa said.

  • Work begins November on cable car

    Work begins November on cable car

    WoRK on the first phase of the $500 million (N80.7 billion) Lagos cable car system will begin in November, according to sources.

    The project is being managed by a firm, Ropeways Transport Limited, which signed an agreement with the state government and the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), in 2012.

    A source said the clearing of the sites and the construction of the towers and laying of the cables for the cars would begin in November.

    Work is expected to begin with the Apapa -Adeniji Adele route, where the firm is expected to open commercial operation next year.

    The 30-year long public-private partnership (PPP) initiative will be funded with a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

    The deal, which is public-private sector driven, will last 30 years.

    Lagos is the first city-state in Nigeria to adopt the cable car for commercial purpose as some states have adopted its use to drive tourism.

    The project is part of the reforms meant to reposition public sector transportation in the state.

    Under the agreement, LAMATA approved the Apapa -Oluwole-Adeniji Adele; Ijora/7up-Iddo-Adeniji Adele and Victoria Island-Falomo-Obalende-Adeniji Adele routes proposed by Ropeways.

    Ropeways  Chief Executive Officer  Captain Dapo Olumide said the cable car network would help to solve transport challenges in Lagos.

    He said: “By complementing existing transport modes, the Lagos cable car transit system will play its part in reducing the traffic congestion in the city.”

    Lagos is expected to have 25 million inhabitants by 2015, meaning that the current 12 million daily passenger movement is projected to increase by six per cent each year, a situation he said, would put pressure on the existing infrastructure.

    Those driving to work could take three hours to complete the journey, Olumide said, adding  that 200,000 new vehicles are registered in the state yearly said.

    “Our proposal to work on the three routes is aimed at ameliorating the existing congestion on the three bridges connecting Lagos Mainland to the Island and to provide a link between Apapa and the Central Business District on Lagos Island, and also to link Victoria Island with the Central Business District of Lagos Island. These are what we hope to achieve with the cable transit system,” Olumide added.

    Cable cars are being used for transport worldwide  because they are green (uses no fuel) and efficient.

    The Lagos Cable Car Transit system will be 12km long, with a journey from Apapa to Adeniji  taking roughly four minutes.

    The fare is expected to be around N100 – N300.

    The project will have five sources of power; the Independent Power Project (IPP), on Lagos Island, gas,  diesel, turbines and inverters.

  • Firm trains school bus drivers

    The Automobiles And Road Safety Initiative (ARSI), a group campaigning for safe driving, is training school bus drivers on defensive driving. The four-day training will take place at its Bolade, Oshodi, Lagos office from August 11.

    ARSI’s President Mr. Samuel Oloyede Oriowo, in a statement, said the workshop is another first by the organisation to broaden the knowledge of school bus drivers and to equip them with safe driving skills necessary for their primary assignment of driving school children.

    According to him, his organisation decided to hold the workshop in August when schools are expectedly on holidays, to enable many drivers participate in the training.

    “We would teach them and further sharpen their life saving skills, saving for their respective schools, time, money and the buses,” Oriowo said.

    Oriowo, who lamented that many school bus drivers were not trained for the job they do, said most of the accidents involving school buses were found to have been caused by driver’s negligence of basic driving rules and skills.

    He said the training would expose drivers to defensive driving, and the culture of safe driving behaviours after being exposed to the six unsafe driving behaviours common with the “not-properly-trained” drivers.

    They will also among others be able to master the DDC Collision Prevention Formula; employ hands-on techniques to manage their emotions and behaviours while driving, be exposed to factors that can be controlled before driving, be made to be able to identify hazards, with instant recognition of same and how to avoid it, understand factors capable of challenging safe driving, develop the habit of regular inspection of their vehicle before embarking on driving daily and be exposed to how to prevent and fight vehicle fire outbreak, among others.

    Oriowo, said the courses would be handled by instructors drawn from various sectors of the industry who are passionate about the competence of drivers conveying students who are the future of the country from home to school and back.

    Oriowo said participants would be awarded certificates to attest to their driving competence and their school’s would be honoured.

  • Lagos unveils new bus routes

    About 11,000 commercial mini buses and 7,637 taxis have been allocated new route numbers following their registration, Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation Mr. Kayode Opeifa has said.

    Speaking in his office, he said: “We have completed the allocation of routes to the 11,000 mini buses that have registered. We currently have 7, 637 taxi registered.”

    According to him, only 944 mass transit buses, 13,839 buses; 7,092 taxis; 2,194 kabu-kabu; 221 car hire vehicles and 2,169 tricycles, totalling 26,459, have been registered, with more than an estimated 30,000 operators yet to comply.

    Records of commercial passenger vehicle licensing scheme, Opeifa said, showed that of the estimated 80,0000 commercial vehicles and drivers in the state, only 24,257 vehicles and 28,902 drivers had been registered as at June, while only 7,637 taxis complied with the documentation of commercial vehicles’ directive.

    Opeifa observed that the government had extended the commencement of the enforcement date since the initial deadline on December 1, last year on many occasions, due to pleas from the leaders of transport unions,

    “In spite of the extension, government is unimpressed and disappointed with the low level of compliance which of course has slowed down the needed reform in the public transportation sector. Hence, the full enforcement must commence immediately and we are ready to implement the policy to the letter having waited for another six months,” he said.

    Unlike what obtains in the past, the determination to enforce the law has led to a rush at the Oshodi headquarters of the Lagos State Drivers Institute, findings have shown.

    The rush for accreditation by commercial vehicle driver and conductors at the centre which was one of the five accredited centres approved by the state’s traffic law 2012, it was learnt was the resolve of the state government to enforce the law, which officials say, is aimed at repositioning the state for efficient and sustainable public transport management system as well as ensuring safety of road users and transport operators.

    The Chief Executive Officer, CEO, LASDRI, Mr. Ayodeji Oyedokun, confirmed that the turn out since the announcement of the enforcement has been massive.

    He said: “The enforcement started in January, 2014. And since then, the number of drivers and owners who have come for the recertification has been increasing monthly. At the moment in Oshodi, we are attending to 200 drivers and conductors daily. We have simplified the process to ensure that it is seamless. We have about two batches daily. While some are in the classroom, others are doing their test and biometric capturing.”

  • Navy, NPA, others unveil plan to free Apapa road

    Navy, NPA, others unveil plan to free Apapa road

    STAKEHOLDERS  have suggested the way out of the perennial gridlock on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

    They called for a routing system for containerised and petrol tankers and the optimal utilisation of the holding bay in  Apapa Ports to address the problem.

    They took the decision at an enlarged meeting held in the boardroom of NNS Beecrooft at the Navy Yard in Apapa, Lagos.

    At the end of five-hour session, the chairman and convener of the meeting, NNS Beecrooft Commander, Commodore Ovenseri Emmanuel Uwadiae said light is at the end of the tunnel, if decisions are enforced.

    According to him, the stakeholders are determined to complement the efforts of Julius Berger Plc, which the Federal Controller of Works confirmed, has resumed work on the Apapa Road.

    Uwadiae, who describe the meeting as successful and exhaustive, said the gridlock  was unacceptable given the centrality of the area to the economy and home to the busiest port in the country.

    He said representatives of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Road Transport Employers Association (RTEAN), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Police, and the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), among others, agreed that freeing the area would be good for business.

    He said while LASTMA has been charged with ensuring an effective routing system, NPA will handle the optimisation of the holding bay at the ports which seem to be operating below capacity.

    Other decisions reached, he said, were  the need for the NPA to direct concessionaires at the ports to increase their capacities to prevent   congestion, and the allocation of a column of the road for any truck intending to load or offload at the ports and the tank farms. Uwadiae added that any truck found outside the approved column would be towed.

    The fifth resolution was for tanker and truck unions to stop the collection dues at the ports’ general areas, which, according to Uwadiae, have been discovered to be a major cause of delays and gridlock.

    Uwadiae said the stakeholders were happy to get on with their respective assignments which he assured would lead to the reduction in travel time within Apapa. He said the meeting, a continuous exercise, would hold again  in a  fortnight to access the extent of compliance by all concerned.

    Responding on behalf of other stakeholders, LASTMA’s General Manager Mr. Babatunde Edu said while the stakeholders would adhere strictly to the decisions reached at the meeting, LATMA would continue to do all within its powers to ensure the free flow of  traffic in and around Apapa and the tank farms.

    “We would work more on the areas discovered at this meeting for the purpose of ensuring that things work as planned. Traffic is a work in progress and we are determined to ensure a reduction in travel time from what presently obtains. We are happy that Julius Berger has expressed its readiness to come and repair the road, we shall work with them to manage the traffic along with their scheduled plan of action. Once this is done, we will not have any gridlock,” Edu said.

  • PAN ready to meet Nigeria’s car demand

    Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) has again restated its commitment to producing quality vehicles that would meet the demand of Nigerians. It also called on the Federal Government adhere to the national automotive policy.

    PAN’s Managing Director, Alhaji Ibrahim Boyi, who stated this while receiving officials of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in his Kaduna office, said his company would meet the demand of members of the association. He said PAN has the capacity to meet the demand of the 16 million members of RTEAN and produce enough cars for other Nigerian users under the automotive policy of the government.

    The Managing Director of PAN told the officials of RTEAN who visited the company plant in Kaduna that since PAN commenced production of the new 301 Peugeot in Nigeria recently, there had been an increase in demand by Nigerians, while the window for expansion in employment had also opened.

    RTEAN’s National President, High Chief Musa Shehu Isiwele, said the group recently launched its mass transit scheme with N17.5 billion. Under the scheme, 4000 vehicles had been distributed to members across the country, Isiwele said.

    He said RTEAN is seeking PAN’s partnership in a quest to support the Federal Government Automotive Development Plan, which was a component of President Goodluck Jonathan’s agenda in the automobile manufacturing in the country.

    “The new auto policy, which was endorsed by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last year, was put in place to promote investment in the auto sub-sector which in turn will minimise the importation of vehicles into the country, and create new opportunities for our citizens.

    “I remember with nostalgia, when PAN alone used to produce over 50,000 vehicles annually, catering for the transportation requirements of our members. Considering the amount of money that your products, namely, Peugeot 504 and 505 both saloon and station wagon, generated for our members, we owe it a duty to join hands with the present management of the company in their renewed efforts in repositioning this auto plant in Nigeria, and in Africa,” he said.