The director of Transport in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Transport Secretariat, Mr. Wilson Unougwu has said that transporters involved in intra-city taxi service in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will pay N3,000 to the FCT transport secretariat for a sticker if they wish to remain in the business at the commencement of the new FCT transport scheme.
According to him, the new scheme is billed to take off before the end of this year.
Unougwu dropped the hint during an enlightenment programme, held for members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Jabi chapter.
He described as unfounded, the fears of the union that rickety vehicles would be banned from operating in the city when the scheme comes into force, saying that adequate measures had been taken to ensure that willing members are incorporated into the scheme.
Unougwu, who is also the chairman of the special task force on high capacity buses said the stickers would be accompanied with a document in which details of the driver and his vehicle would be captured.
He said a deadline of October 31 had been fixed by the FCT administration for all taxi operators to obtain the sticker after which the 18-month vehicle recapitalisation period would commence.
Unougwu also said that under the new scheme, vehicles would have to be registered with transport organisations for easy management and correspondence.
He said, “If you have the sticker on your car, no matter how rickety the car is the task force members will allow you to be doing your business. Government’s plan is not to disenfranchise anybody but to empower individual members through the scheme as all genuine operators will be incorporated.”
The director maintained that the scheme would be done on first come first serve basis, stressing that individuals who operate taxi business without registering their vehicles would be considered as operating illegally and if found would be arrested and punished in accordance with the law.
The NURTW spokesman, Mr. Lawrence Fadipe, commended the FCT administration for the initiative but advised that the stickers must be sold through the union who could identify and vouch for true taxi operators.
He noted that the sensitisation exercise was also important to ensure that the union was carried along for the scheme to succeed.
He said “We have to work together, so that we can be able to properly inform our members of government’s plan which obviously will make our job easier. Our rickety vehicles are not comfortable for anybody but when there is no better option, we just have to continue to survive.”
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