The Lagos Branch of the Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria on Wednesday urged the Lagos State Government to give its members more time before enforcing the commercial vehicles registration scheme.
The state’s Chairman of the association, Alhaji Adefowope Olorode, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
Olorode said that the union was appealing for leniency from government on the enforcement to enable members prepare adequately for the exercise.
NAN recalls that the Lagos State Government had on November 1, 2013 directed commercial vehicle owners, drivers and conductors to carry out data documentation of their vehicle
The enforcement, which was expected to begin on January 1, was delayed till February 1, to allow all commercial transport operators in the state to register.
Olorode pleaded with government to be considerate in the enforcement to allow all union members to carry out the documentation.
He said: “We understand that the time allotted for the registration has elapsed and government has been kind enough to wait till January 31.
“However, we are still pleading with the government to be lenient on the enforcement because we have large members.
“The enforcement now should just be to gear up members who are yet to register rather than being hard on them.”
He said that the severity of the enforcement might force drivers to park their vehicles off the road, adding that this could bring negative effect to the transportation system in the state.
Olorode urged members to cooperate with government by making time for the documentation.
“RTEAN is made up of law-abiding people and this quality should be upheld by all members by heeding state’s directives and obeying the traffic rules,” he said.
The Lagos State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Tajudeen Agbede, had on January 6, appealed to the government to extend the ultimatum by two months.
Agbede, who made the appeal when he led more than 300 commercial bus drivers to register at the Lagos State Drivers’ Institute, said that the extension would enable more drivers to comply.
Meanwhile, the state’s Ministry of Transportation on January 31 warned that it would impound commercial vehicles, arrest drivers and conductors who were yet to register.
The state’s Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, in a statement, said that the delay in the documentation exercise was hindering the take-off of the implementation of another aspect of the policy.
Opeifa cited the issuance of licence to registered commercial vehicle operators as part of the scheme.
He said that drivers and conductors were expected to register in any of the five Lagos State Drivers’ Institutes in Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island and Epe.
Vehicle owners are expected to pay N1,000 for every vehicle registered.
Meanwhile, the task force on the implementation of the registration on Wednesday arrested 20 commercial bus operators over illegal parking and non-compliance with the state’s transport code.
Some of the operators were also apprehended for operating with buses not painted in the state’s yellow colour reserved for commercial buses.
Commuters were stranded early on Wednesday at Costain Bus Stop on the Lagos Mainland as the task force apprehended defaulting commercial buses.
An official of the task force, who pleaded anonymity, said that the operators had known history of not obeying traffic laws by parking indiscriminately along highways.
He said: “Commercial bus operators are fond of parking anywhere to pick and drop passengers.
“This illegal action has been distorting free flow of traffic.
“They have turned every place into bus stops and motor parks.
“Yet, there are assigned places where they can do these.
“We have also arrested those who do not comply with the government’s colour for commercial buses.”
According to him, all the apprehended vehicles will be towed to the state’s secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja as deterrent to other operators who indulged in the habit.
He said that the state was currently waging a war against indiscipline by motorists and would continue to storm all areas to bring sanity on the roads.
NAN reports that the task force has also extended its clampdown to people hawking at unauthorised places.
The task force said that the war against indiscipline started on Monday and would be sustained until sanity returned to the city.
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