Traffic Offenders Face Hard Times

Worried by incessant traffic offences committed by both private and commuter bus drivers and even motorcycle riders in Lagos State, the government has announced plans to install secret cameras so that it could be easy to arrest and prosecute offenders.

This was disclosed by the state Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, when members of the state House of Assembly Committee on Transportation, Commerce and Industry paid a visit to his Ministry.

Opeifa told the lawmakers that the State Government had become uncomfortable with the traffic challenges in the state caused by violations of traffic rules.

He said plans had been concluded for the installation of the cameras which he said would be installed at strategic locations in within the state to help the ministry take shots of traffic offenders no matter how minute the offence may be.

He said the secret cameras would be linked to a power house within the ministry where officials would monitor the offending vehicles, get their registration numbers and go after them in order to them to book.

“Before the end of this year, we would have completed the installation of the cameras to inform us about traffic situation and also to make us see those violating traffic regulations.

He also told the committee that in order to strengthen the laws on traffic regulation within the state and give more powers to the regulators like the state Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), the ministry is working on about 20 bills which would be sent to the state House of Assembly for deliberation and passage into law.

According to him, it had become important to start with the implementation of stricter punishment for traffic offenders for even simple offences like not stopping at zebra crossings for those who want to cross the roads.

Opeifa further said the government was already mapping out areas of the state for additional 170 pedestrian crossing, adding that the ministry was also liaising with schools in this regard as this would greatly assist pupils and students who daily cross the roads to and from school.

He also said the state needed about 300 bus stop shelters for commuters.

On the issue of commercial motorcycle riders, he said the government would continue to implement the partial ban pending the outcome of a position by the state House of Assembly.

“We do not have plans to completely ban okada riders until the House gives us the go-ahead,” he told the committee.

He said the ministry had discovered that some drivers of commuter buses in the state have stubbornly refused to paint the vehicles in the official colours of the state and that others often put inscriptions like ‘Mopol,’ ‘Alariwo,’ adding that as a result, the ministry had commissioned selected officials to arrest such vehicles henceforth and sanction them in the best interest of the state.

He said LASTMA had become the policy nerve of the country in relations to traffic management as several other states including Edo, Ogun, Oyo and Osun, Ekiti states, and even the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) have visited the ministry to study the successes recorded by the authority.

According to him, LASTMA has successfully trained officials from such states that have now begun their own versions of the programme, adding that the traffic regulators from the state have extended their services to Sango-Ota and Mowe areas of Ogun state.

He used the opportunity to berate the Federal Government over claims that it had delivered some buses, which it bought in the heat of the subsidy crisis, to the states, adding that the states would soon challenge the Federal Government over such claims.

However, Opeifa appealed to the committee for assistance in terms of funding as the ministry needed a functional library as well as materials for proper enlightenment of the people of the state concerning traffic issues.

He said he was working on an effective policy on transportation which he said is lacking in the country.

Speaking on behalf of the committee, its Chairman, Bisi Yusuf, urged the ministry to do more at ensuring improved water transportation in the state.

According to Yusuf, “the Ministry of Transportation has a lot to do when it comes achieving the mega city status. The man-hours we lose on Lagos roads on daily basis is just too much and this is due to traffic congestion.

“This ministry must work towards ensuring that water transportation is properly utilised since there is too much presence of vehicles on our roads.

“I know that some people have phobia for water, but this ministry must enlighten and encourage them to enjoy water transportation.”

—Eromosele Ebhomele