Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa
Commercial bus drivers and conductors who failed to register with the regime should be yare to stop doing business from July, 1, 2014, Lagos State Regime has verbally expressed.
The regime expounded that the deadline for the registration of commercial bus drivers and conductors would culminate on June 30, while enforcement would commence the following day.
It integrated that any commercial conveyance not registered after the deadline would be impounded.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, at a news conference on Friday, verbalized the commercial bus operators were asked to document their business since November, 2013, integrating that many of them had not complied despite series of extension granted to them.
Opeifa verbalized out of an estimated 80,000 commercial passenger conveyances and drivers in the state, only 24,257 conveyances and 28,902 drivers had registered with the regime; while 7,637 taxis had additionally complied with the directive.
He verbally expressed, “The state regime is committed and yare to implement this policy to the letter having waited for another six months to ascertain stringent compliance. The full enforcement must commence immediately as convey amalgamations with their documentation had made us believe that there are only 24,257 conveyances, 28,902 drivers, 591 conductors and 7,637 taxis in the state.
“To this end, with effect from 1 July, 2014, only the registered drivers and conductors on our database are sanctioned to operate commercial passenger conveyances in the state and all others found on our road will be apprehended.
“Law enforcement agents such as the VIS, LASTMA, the police and the FRSC, have been directed to ascertain stringent compliance with the law. While the documentation exercise is supposed to be at a cost to the operators, we have for the last eight months provided the accommodations free of charge.”
The commissioner verbally expressed when the enforcement commenced, operators who had yet to be documented would do so at a cost of N20,000 for the commercial conveyance owners, while N5,000 and N2,000 would be charged for drivers and conductors’ accreditation respectively.
“In additament, apprehended offenders will be fined for a minimum of N20, 000 as stipulated in the Lagos State Road Traffic Law 2012. I implore those who have complied with the documentation to feel in liberty to go about their mundane business activities at the commencement of the full enforcement,” Opeifa verbally expressed.
Copyright PUNCH.