Daily Independent Online.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2004.
Lagos loses N40b annually to traffic hold-up
By Maxwell Oditta
Senior
Correspondent,
Lagos
The Lagos State Government and federal
establishments in the metropolis are losing over N40 billion every year due to
man-hours wasted in traffic hold-up, which represents 10 per cent of aggregate
amount accruable to the public sector from various transactions in the state.
Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety
Commission (FRSC) in Lagos, Commander Ayo Omiyale, made the disclosure at the
opening of a three-day enlightenment programme organised by road marshals for
members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
At the programme, which took place at FRSC
office near the former Lagos toll plaza, Omiyale noted that no one in Lagos
spends less than an average of one hour per day in traffic hold up.
“If the workday is to last for 10
hours, the one hour expended in the congested traffic system is one-tenth of the
workday,” Omiyale added.
The Lagos Sector commander promised minimal
traffic jam and reduced mortality in the next couple of months as the FRSC take
over traffic management on Trunk ‘A’ roads in the state, in
collaboration with the Police.
He advised transporters to refrain from
making u-turn in unauthorised places, abstain from parking their vehicles close
to any ‘T’ junction, around any public building including banks,
near roundabout or at the crest of a hill. He also implored commercial drivers
not to use the expressway, but revert to the pedestrian lane, both when picking
passengers and when not.
