FG TO REINTRODUCE TOLLS ON FEDERAL HIGHWAYS

The Federal Government on Monday said it would reintroduce tolling on the nation’s highways to raise the much needed funds to maintain the roads.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, stated this while addressing members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, who visited him in his office in Abuja.

The minister’s position may be an endorsement of the Senate’s proposal in July for the return of tolls on federal roads and the setting aside of 0.5 per cent of transport fares paid by passengers on inter-state trips to generate funds for the rehabilitation and maintenance of roads in the country.

Fashola said that the tolling system would only be introduced to road projects that had been completed by the government.

The minister, according to a statement by the Director of Information in the ministry, Mohammed Ahmed, also said the government would spend N100bn to be raised from the issuance of the sukuk bond for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 25 arterial roads.

The sukuk bond, which has been described as a safe and low-risk investment, is being issued by Debt Management Office with a seven-year tenor.

He explained that the sum of N16.7bn would be allocated for each geo-political zone across the country.

Fashola gave some of the prioritised road projects as the dualisation of Ibadan-Ilorin road, Suleja-Minna road, Kano-Maiduguri road and Lokoja-Benin road, as well as the rehabilitation of the Enugu- Port-Harcourt Expressway and the construction of the Kaduna Eastern Bypass.

The statement read in part, “The Federal Government is reconstructing and rehabilitating 25 arterial roads with an aggressive plan to spend about N16.7bn for each geopolitical zone across the country.

“The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, also stated that the ministry was in the process of re-introducing the tolling system on completed federal highways in order to sustain the maintenance of these roads.”

The President, MAN, Dr. Frank Jacobs, commended the minister for the ongoing rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan and Onitsha-Enugu expressways as well as other strategic roads across the country.

He also expressed delight with the approval of N213bn Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility aimed at easing some of the challenges in the electricity industry value-chain.

AMAECHI SACKS STATION MANAGERS, PORTERS, OTHERS AT ABUJA-KADUNA RAIL STATION

While inspecting the Abuja-Kaduna railway stations in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, directed that the station managers, porters, and ticket officials at Idu and Rigasa rail stations, be removed for alleged ticket racketeering at the stations.

According to a report by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the minister said the directive became imperative following complaints of passengers over racketeering of VIP tickets at the stations, and decried the poor maintenance of the facilities, as well as the untidy surroundings of the stations.

He said; “I am removing the station managers in Idu and Rigasa, the porters and ticket officials will be removed let’s see if it will resolve the complaints of passengers using the rail.

“Some of them have complained on the social media, I believe that if any system fails, it is because the leaders allow it to fail and I will not allow that.
“The money we are spending monthly, is it just for diesel alone? Is it for general maintenance of all the stations and the environment, we will fix the lift within one week to ensure that passengers use it for their luggage."

Amaechi said that removing all these officials would put a stop to workers nonchalant attitude toward work and stop ticket racketeering in the stations.

The Manager, Abuja-Kaduna Train Service, Paschal Nnorli said that he had to disguise as a passenger to be able to confirm the complaints by passengers, adding that one of the portal boys was caught in the act.

Newsmen report that the 11 ticket officials affected at the two stations are to be replaced, while the minister also scrapped the use of porter’s boys for carrying luggage.

Abuja-Kaduna rail line now generate N1m daily- Amaechi

The Abuja to Kaduna rail line now generates one million Naira daily, Minister of Transportation Mr Rotimi Amaechi disclosed.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Benin, Amaechi said that the feat was because of the increase in passengers that patronise the rail.

He attributed the passenger surge to the security challenges faced by commuters along the route.

‘’We are spending N56 million per month, we are getting back only N16 million. Now there is an improvement; we now make N30 million, (that is) one million Naira per day.

‘’The improvement started last month because of increase in passengers because of the kidnapping on the road,’’ he said.

The minister said that government was using the previous generated revenues on the maintenance of the coaches and other logistics.

Amaechi said that government would address the issue of touting at the Idu rail station with the expected arrival of 10 more coaches by October.

He, however, disclosed that the arrival of the new coaches would require more resources for maintenance in order to meet customers’ expectations.