Insecurity: Rivers govt moves to register commercial vehicles
Barth Ndubuwah, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Government through the Transport Ministry said it has concluded plans to enumerate or register all commercial vehicles operating in the state.
The Commissioner for Tranport, Barr. Osima Ginah disclosed this in Port Harcourt, while addressing stakeholders in a one-day interactive forum with operators in the transport industry.
He said the essence of the programme was to unveil the innovation of the Transport Ministry in automating the system. According to the Commissioner, the innovation will see all commercial vehicles enumerated and painted in the State colour.
Osinah said apart from enumerating the vehicles, owners of such vehicles will also be profiled. The Transport Ministry boss added that a security code will be alloted every vehicle, with a view to tracking any stolen vehicle in the State.
He said the enumeration will include motorcycles and tricycles, othwise referred to as ‘keke,’ adding that all the commercial vehicles must be painted in the State colour as it is done in other states. He cleared the air of a possible conflict with local government councils and transport unions, explaining that councils are only authorized to collect tenement rates, while unions collect levies. He emphasized that the Transport Ministry collects taxes and no council or Union has the right to impound any vehicle that paid the Ministry of Transport ( MOT) taxes.
“We are here to introduce to you the new innovation in the Ministry,which is automation of the transport system. The aim is to sanitize the system by enumerating all commercial vehicles, including motorcycles and tricycles, popularly called keke.The idea is to ascertain the number of commercial vehicles in the State,with a view to fishing out bad eggs among them who usually take advantage of the precarious system to commit crimes.This will also eliminate double taxation,” the Transport Commissioner said.
In his remarks, the Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC), Rivers State Command, SUP Salish Galadunci decried a situation where miscreants infiltrate the Transport system to commit crimes.
The Sector Commander said such criminals end up giving bad name to tranporters. He opined that the enumeration of the vehicles and their operators will go a long way to sanitize the system and rid it of crimes. He described driving as a very important job across the globe in that all the organs of the body are involved in driving. He said the sanitization of the transport system is to the advantage of the tranporters, while pledging to collaborate with the Transport Ministry to achieve the desired goal.
“This meeting is apt, so let me thank the Honourable Commissioner and his team for organizing this meeting. I want to also commend His Excellency,Governor Nyesom Wike for the road infrastructure he put in place in Rivers State. Port Harcourt is a cosmopolitan city, after Lagos and Abuja, hence the need to sanitize the transport system in the State,” the Sector Commander said.
