Any Future For Public Transportation In Rivers?

All over the world, transportation is a major challenge that has always kept every government on its toes. Even in most advanced countries like the United States, Britain, Canada etc, transportation sector is an important determining factor in the development index.

In Nigeria, the sector attracts huge budgetary allocations on a yearly basis. This is because every other sector of the economy depends largely on transportation. This year alone, the Federal Government, in its bid to boost transportation system in Nigeria, budgeted N54,83 billion for the sector, covering land and sea.

The same replicates itself in Rivers State, where transportation problem appears to have dominated major discussion among the citizens and residents. In the current expenditure, transportation sector gulps a huge sum of the budget.

Reasons for this are not far-fetched. Since its inception, the present administration under Governor Chibuike Rotimi Ameachi has put in place various measures to ensure hitch-free transportation in the state. One of such measures is the monorail project launched by the state government in July, 2010.

In spite of these efforts, many citizens and residents believe it is not yet Uhuru for the state transportation system.

At a public forum organised by the state Ministry of Transport in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, with the theme: “The Rivers Monorail Project and the Future of Public Transportation  in Rivers State: Issues, Challenges and Way Forward,” many stakeholders criticised the monorail project as being too bogus, and expressed fear that the project may not be completed within the remaining three yars of Amaechi’s administration, thereby risking abandonment by the next administration. They pointed at the school bus project initiated by the Odili administration and the moribund Rivers State Transport Compnay (RTC) as examples of such projects that were abandoned.

Also, given the huge sums of money that have been sunk into the project and the two-year deadline initially given for its completion, many people have described the monorail project as unrealistic and not in tune with the current needs of the state. But the state Commissioner for Transport, Hon. George Fubara Tolofari dismissed such fears and criticisms. Although he did not give reasons why work on the project was suspended, he assured that the monorail was in line with the emerging global order and that the project would be delivered for the use of the people.

“We have long taken delivery of materials for the completion of the project.

“We have no fear of any kind, the monorail project will be delivered for the use of people, we will surely prove our critics wrong,” he said.

He adds, “Public transportation  today is a global business and if we want to play a role in the emerging global order, we must be ready to reform, we must be ready to try new ideas; that this has never been done in this part of the world before, does not necessarily mean it cannot be done.”

Justifying the importance of the monorail project during the public forum,  Hon Tolofari said, the poject was aimed at easing transportation in the state and more importantly, to move people in large number from one place to another for personal and economic purposes.

“If Rivers State is to play her role as the oil capital of Nigeria and is to become an engine room for growth in the Niger Delta region and the business hub of the South-South, then we must have a strategy to move a large number of people from one point to another in the shortest possible time,” he said.

He argued that “we cannot have a modern city ready for business without efficient modes of public transportation models that have the capacity to move people in large numbers.”

Speaking in the same vein at the public hearing, the chairman of the occasion, Honourable Onaeze Okocha, SAN, explained the monorail project and its intended impact on public transportation  in the state. He said the project was conceptualised in order to alleviate the present difficulties faced by Rivers people in public transportation.

“I appeal to all of us who have assembled here today, and indeed to all our fellow citizens, to keep our eyes on the ball, to focus on the theme of this public forum, so that, together, we may be better enable to chart the way forward.

“May I humbly say that this forum is certainly not the place for undue cynicism, bitter recriminations and unwholesome attacks on government or on its ideas and project which have been conceptualised to alleviate our present difficulties in public transportation and make the hues of the teeming masses of our peoples much more easier and much more happier,” Okocha admonished.

The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar also made a presentation at the forum. He was optimistic that the forum would enable stakeholders share ideas that would actualize the monorail system which Rivers State had initiated. He commended the state government for the initiative and described it as timely.

According to the Minister, the monorail project was in line with the Revised National Transport Policy (NTP) and the National Transportation Masterplan (NTM) which encourage stakeholders to invest in the development of transportation infrastructure.

“From all indications, the Rivers’ Monorail Project will be viable. The project is strategic and will be of immense socio-economic benefit to Rivers State in particular and the nation in general. The project is also in line with the National Transport Policy and the Nigerian Transportation Masterplan. The Ministry is therefore, ready to collaborate with the Rivers State Government and make the necessary impact through the Nigerian Railway Corporation, with a view to speedy implementation of the project,” the Minister said.

Beyond the Rivers Monorail project, the state government has designed the transportation architectural framework that has led to the construction of four mega terminals at the respective entry points into the city of Port Harcourt.

The objective behind the construction of these mega terminals, according to  Hon. Tolofari,  was to allow all inter-state public transportation to terminate in these terminals, thereby freeing the city centre of traffic.

“We have completed the first mega terminal in Omagwa, the second in Eleme is about 75 per cent completed, while we have indentified sites for construction in Oyigbo and Emohua,” Tolofari said.

Another area of transportation that came under discussion at the one-day public forum was maritime transportation. Regrettably, Rivers State has not recorded much success in this area, inspite of its strategic importance as the maritime hub of the Niger Delta, and its location in the heart of the hydrocarbon industry.

“In the maritime sector, it is sad to say that we have not recorded much success. Our boats are still lying in the naval yard premises, while our other marine facilities remain grossly under-utilised,” Tolofari said.

But the Director, Marine Engineering Department, Rivers State Ministry of Transportation, Engineer Senibo Wilkinson George said all hope is not lost. According to him, with the recent Federal Government’s approval of the dredging of the Orashi River from Oguta Lake in Imo State to Degema in Rivers State and the on-going dredging of lower River Niger that is nearing completion, the state would soon be open to business transportation for boat transportation and allied services.

He disclosed that the state government has acquired five modern water taxis to boost maritime transportation and would also want to partner with interested foreign and local investors to provide ferry services.

The Controller-General, TIMARIV, Nelson Jaja who spoke on the regulatory enforcement under the Rivers State transport sector reform highlighted the gains, challenges and the way forward in regulating enforcement.

Jaja justified the establishment of TIMARIV and said it was in line with global trend that has witnessed governments at state and local levels take over the control and regulation of traffic in their respective domains.

Highlighting the gains made by the agency, Jaja said: “Till date, we have impounded about 14,000 vehicles, released 12,966, towed 5,700 vehicles and sent 2,016 maniac drivers for psychiatric evaluation.”

An elated Jaja said at the public hearing that the enforcement had brought about significant improvement in traffic flow and attraction for tourists.

He, however, identified interference of uniformed security personnel as some of the challenges faced by the agency.

Boye Salau and Arnold Alalibo