Hon. Ben Igbakpa is the Delta State Commissioner for Transport. He highlights the achievements of the ministry. Excerpts:
(http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Speed-boats-to-aid-transportation-in-the-riverine-areas-of-the-state..jpg) (http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Speed-boats-to-aid-transportation-in-the-riverine-areas-of-the-state..jpg) Speed boats to aid transportation in the riverine areas of the state.
Could you tell us what the Ministry of Transport has been able to achieve?
Whatever we are doing now in Delta State revolves around His Excellency's programme of Delta Beyond Oil. Delta Beyond Oil is to remind our people that oil is volatile, that oil can go tomorrow. But while it lasts, whatever we can get from it should be used to finance other sectors of the economy so that when tomorrow the wells are dry and oil is no longer coming, the state can even do better than it is doing now when there is oil. That informs the need for huge investment in the various sectors of the economy.
I came on board barely two years ago and I met a very robust transport policy that is integrated, sustainable and efficient. We only had to sit down and look at it to know what the policy thrust is? So far, Delta State is the one that parades the cheapest transport fare today in Nigeria because His Excellency, the governor, has invested hugely in the transport sector. With SUREP, transport in the state is subsidized. For anybody, any passenger that is using our urban mass transit scheme, once you are in any of our buses, you pay part of the fare and the government pays the other part. Today, we have a total of 605 buses. We are expecting another 100, making them 705, because the governor has promised since 2007 that he would leave Delta State with at least a 1000 eighteen-seater buses. We also have 130 water buses which would be commissioned in a few days time and handed over to the operators.
(http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Buses-acquired-by-the-state-government-for-the-Bus-Rapid-Transport-initiative..jpg) (http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Buses-acquired-by-the-state-government-for-the-Bus-Rapid-Transport-initiative..jpg) Buses acquired by the state government for the Bus Rapid Transport initiative.
Last year, we did away with motorcycles, the okada, knowing the nuisance that they had constituted, knowing the health issues. Our governor is a front liner in this global warming issue and he is actually one of the signatories to R20 and the Territorial Approach to Climate Change, TAAC. He is one of the governors in the World that keyed into that very, very early. So, he doesn't take the issue of environmental problem lightly. That is one of the reasons why we have to do away with motorcycles because for everybody that knows, if 10 motorcycles are here, the carbon that they will be releasing to the atmosphere alone is enough to deplete the ozone layer.
Talk about the criminal activities of the operators; talk about the recklessness because what qualifies anybody to ride okada is just to have the money, to buy an okada and commercialise it without even licence. They just go on the streets and at the end of the day end up killing many people. Ever since we stopped the use of motorcycles in our major cities, it has reduced accident rate to the barest minimum. Crime rate has reduced to the barest minimum.
While dropping okada, our visionary governor provided the tricycles so that the former okada riders can survive. We started with 1250. In fact today, government's own is more than 3,000 and the private sector has its own. We do what we call codification in Delta State; we register every vehicle, every taxi that plies our roads. We register the tricycles too. Now, you can know the total number of tricycles or cars on our roads. We know who actually own them unlike before. That is how far we've gone in Delta State and it has been wonderful. It is quite challenging but we thank God that His Excellency, the governor, gave our ministry every tool to work. That is why I don't see any reason why we should fail.
(http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Buses-acquired-by-the-state-government-for-transportation..jpg) (http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Buses-acquired-by-the-state-government-for-transportation..jpg) Buses acquired by the state government for transportation.
Is the City Bus Scheme run by the government or by the private sector?
The City Bus Scheme is actually public-private partnership. Government is the first risk taker. It takes the risk; the government buys the buses. We believe that government has no business in business because of our attitude to government business. People believe that government's business is nobody's business. So, government doesn't want to be involved. We buy the buses; we lay our rules and regulations; we sign agreement with the operators. These are people who have track record in the area of transportation. We give them the buses, they run them and at the end of every month, they pay back certain amounts to government. And that money is being ploughed back to buy other ones. If we leave it in the hands of government and you expect government to run them, at the end of the day, you won't see the buses; they will destroy all the buses; they will steal the money. We are trying to have what we call the automatic fare collection where people don't have access to cash.
What is the scope of the project? Is it limited to Asaba, the state capital?
No, it is a statewide project. No matter how remote village is, our urban mass transit buses get to every nook and cranny of Delta State. The only ones that are little urban are the Marcopolo buses because of their size. They cannot ply every road. So, these are the ones that are urban, but they still go far. They go up to Sapele, Warri, Agbor, Abraka, the University town, etc. They still go very wide but the smaller buses crisscross all corners of Delta State. It is a statewide project.
What has been the feeling and the attitude of the people of the state to the programmes of your ministry?
It is being applauded. If there is any sector that actually touches every body, it is the transport sector. You know transportation has to do with the high and the mighty, the grassroots persons, the masses on the streets. They enjoy it. During the last Christmas, I received so many calls, so many text messages or prayers for the governor because when private sector operators are carrying a passenger to Lagos and Abuja at N6, 000, our own mass transit was N2, 500. That was the fare before. So, the fare today is still what obtained when we started in January 2011, when fuel subsidy was removed. It was in the heat of the crisis that His Excellency made that pronouncement. Today, it is being adhered to religiously.
What is the projection of your ministry for the next two years?
Our projection for the next two years has started today. We are already working and you can see our bus shelters everywhere. We are building two mega bus terminals, one in Warri and the other one in Asaba. By the grace of God, in the next two years, there are two major things that are dear to my heart which we are very close to achieving. One is the establishment of the Delta State Traffic Management Authority. The bill has gone to the State House of Assembly. By the grace of God, I trust my colleagues in the House, I know they are going to give it speedy consideration and pass it into law. The other one is the BRT line that we are planning. In the next two years, when people talk about transport in Delta State, they should be able to talk about scheduled transport.
We are talking about Delta beyond oil. We considered the fact that a chaotic city cannot bring a good economy. Our plan, by the grace of God, is that in two years we would have had our Traffic Management Authority in place, our BRT in place and our schedule transport in place.
National Mirror