The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to resuscitate the Urban Mass Transit Scheme in the country to make transportation affordable and accessible as a social right to all Nigerians.
It mandated the Committee on Land Transport to liaise with relevant stakeholders with a view to establishing policy frameworks that would further improve the transportation sector and report back within six weeks for further legislative action.
These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion by Aniekan Umanah from Akwa Ibom State who noted that in 1989, the Urban Mass Transit Scheme was established by the Federal Government to ameliorate transportation challenges in Nigeria.
He also noted that the objectives of the scheme were to moderate the national urban transit scheme, alleviate the problems of urban commuters and the general masses as well as lay the foundation for organized mass transit in Nigeria.
The lawmaker said the House is: “Aware that the scheme helped to reduce the overriding gap between increasing public transport demand and the decreasing supply in the transport market.
“Also aware that almost all the States and Local Government Councils in the country including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as well as private entities participated in the scheme which greatly improved transportation for the people.
“Concerned that the Mass Transport Scheme failed due to factors such as poor management and lack of strict processes, which weakened its sustainability.
“Worried that millions of commuters across the country still experience difficulties in commuting due to insufficient mass transit vehicles thus exposing them to grave dangers such as harassment, kidnappings, and robbery, among other things.”
source:BUSINESS DAY
[logo-slider]
