RSG To Set Up Public Transport Authority

The Rivers State government would soon set up a special public transport authority to be backed by law in the state.

The Commissioner for Transport, Hon. George Tolofari, who dropped the hint while highlighting the efforts by government to instill discipline and sanity on our roads said the authority, would be managed, by Rivers indigenes based in Europe.

He said the Europe-based Rivers State sons and daughters had already indicated interest to bring their transport expertise to bear and develop the state.

According to him, the ministry would formulate the policies on transportation, while the special public transport authority would be responsible for the implementation and enforcing of the  policies.

The state transport commissioner further stated that a template had already been developed to enable the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) to handle and take ownership of the buses and run them under agreed terms with the Rivers State government.

Hon. Tolofari said the template would address issues bothering on ownership arrangement, deployment of the buses on major routes, pricing, operations of the buses and concession of major roads to the unions, adding that all these arrangements would be agreed between the unions and the Rivers State government.

He noted that land and marine transportation as well as the monorail when operational would be under the directive of the Special Public Transport Authority, while the ministry would be supervising the authority.

Collins Barasimeye