Anambra Decongests Traffic In Onitsha

The Anambra State government has commenced the removal of rickety and abandoned vehicles causing obstruction to the free-flow of traffic on major roads in Onitsha and its environs.

The Commissioner for Transport, Dr Chike Ohamobi, told newsmen in Onitsha that the exercise codenamed “Operation Clear Roads of Obstructions’’ included the ban on illegal bus stops.

“It also involves sensitising drivers of commercial vehicles on the use of service lanes and the need for them to park their vehicles only at authorised bus stops,’’ he said.

Ohamobi said the government would clamp down on road-side traders and illegal markets springing up along the Onitsha-Enugu and Onitsha-Owerri highways.

He said the obstructions on the two highways led to two multiple road crashes recently.

“We have studied the situation leading to the two multiple accidents and have found out that there were lots of obstructions to the free flow of traffic on the two highways. “This has led to the loss of lives which should not have been if these obstructions and people trading on the roads were removed,’’ he said.

The commissioner, who led members of Anambra State Traffic Agency (ASTA) with towing vehicles on the exercise, said that six vehicles abandoned on the road had already been removed.

He said the exercise would be a continuous one, adding that hundreds of vehicles would be removed from the roads in the course of the exercise.

“The ministry would meet with transport unions and other road users to sensitise them on the exercise. “The enforcement exercise must continue and we hope that road users would buy into the government plan to make our roads safe for everyone,’’ the commissioner said.