• Transport union members decry move
To mitigate the effect of petrol subsidy removal on the transport sector, the Ogun State Government said it has concluded plans with the Federal Government to replace existing parks and garages in the state with modern terminals for easy movement of goods and services across the 20 council areas.
Commissioner for Transport, Gbenga Dairo, in a chat at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, said the initiative was part of the Federal Government’s plan to pick the state for the construction of modern terminals to change the face of transportation structure in the state.
Dairo stated that the modern terminals would feature state-of-the-art facilities, including a petrol and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station, warehouses, parking spaces, administrative offices, passengers’ amenities, security as well as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) features, among others, to meet the modern-day transportation system and generate employment opportunities, especially for operators in the existing parks and garages.
He mentioned Kuto and Panseke as part of the parks and garages that would be turned to modern terminals, stressing that the state government’s plan to move the existing parks and garages to a new site would attract investors and businesses as well as improved transportation system in the state for residents to enjoy.
The commissioner said: “Our focus is to consolidate terminals in major cities, especially in Abeokuta, and we are working together with the Federal Government to build a new multinational and multi-dimensional modern terminal in Abeokuta. I hope all the various parks and garages that are congested in the state capital, Abeokuta, will be relocated to a new site for a better transportation system. Part of the parks and garages where the terminal will be situated is Kuta, Panseke and others.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Kuto Branch, Abeokuta, Oluyinka Oluseye, called on the state government to demolish houses within the Kuto Parks and Garages to enlarge the place and accommodate the proposed modern terminals.
Oluseye appealed to the state government to also create a small portion from the extension for market women and transport union to operate from the existing parks and garages beside the modern one, stressing that moving the parks and garages to a new site would affect the union’s transport business.
He said: “It is a welcome development from the government angle to create modern terminals, but trying to move the existing park and garage in Kuto to another site would be difficult and would affect our transport operations and the business of the market women.
“What I think the government should do is break down structures to enlarge the Kuto Park and Garage for the construction of the modern terminals and create a small place for us and the market where women do businesses.”
Also, a leader of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) at anonymity, appealed to the state government to create a small portion of land for the union to operate their transport business instead relocating them to a new site.
The source said although the union could not oppose any government policy on transportation system, it urged the government to consider the plight of stakeholders, including members of the union, shops and small business owners at the park and garages would undergo in the course of relocating to the new site.
He lamented that the union would lose a number of passengers who board inter-state buses at Panseke Park and Garage, should the government relocate the part, adding that even small business owners would lose their customers and would take time for them to get new ones at the relocated site.
“When you look at Panseke Park and Garage, you will see that the space is not enough for the state government to use for the proposed modern terminal. Even the Shop Complex is not big enough. But you know if the government wants to do something, we can’t stop. We can only beg them as a transport union to give us small space to operate because relocation of the park and garage will be stressful and cause a setback to our transport business. Not only members of the union will be affected, even those who have shops at the complex and those who display their wares around the park and garage,” he added.
