Enugu Begins Registration Of Commercial Buses

The Enugu State Government on Wednesday commenced registration of commercial buses operating in the state’s capital as part of measures to ensure security.

The state’s Commissioner for Transport, Mr Chuka Utazi said  in Enugu that the registration was to put in place a comprehensive data on the buses and noted that the exercise would help identify defaulters, ensure adequate security and reduce lawlessness on roads in the city.

The commissioner expressed concern over the level of ignorance on the part of some bus drivers on the registration exercise, adding that anyone without the fleet number would be arrested and fined.

“Now that we are registering commercial buses, many people are busy chasing money until we have gotten the number of buses we want to ply the roads. We cannot allow all the buses that are in Enugu today to remain in Enugu. That will amount to making movement chaotic”, he said.

“The government is here to enforce orderliness so, we are doing that. We want to get the specific number of vehicles that will be in every route in the city. We want to balance the mode of transportation in the state. We will not allow one mode of transportation to dominate the rest,’’ he added.

Utazi said that the ministry had registered 2,500 tricycle operators in the state, adding that the ban on non-registered commercial buses, taxis and tricycles would commence after the registration.

Some of the drivers commended government for the action, noting that it would bring sanity into the transportation sector.

A commercial bus driver, Mr Ignatius Ebo, said the registration process was easy, adding that he paid three thousand naira for the registration form.

According to him, the action will help distinguish fake bus drivers from the real drivers.

“I am happy for this registration because most times, people just bring any type of bus on the road and start carrying passengers.At least, our union recognises everybody here doing the registration.’’

Another bus driver, Mr Nicholas Idu, said the action was a right step by the government.

He, however, appealed to the government to hasten the pace of work on some roads under construction to reduce traffic.  The registration would end by the end of this month.