Transporter wants FRSC to extend speed limiter to private vehicles

Chief Lasbery Okaforanyanwu, the Chairman, Imo Transport Corporation (ITC), has called on Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to review its policy restricting usage of speed limiting device to commercial vehicles.

Okaforanyanwu made his position known while briefing journalists on Thursday at ITC corporate headquarters in Owerri.

He said though the introduction of speed limiting device was a welcome development, but restricting the policy to only commercial vehicles was not good for the safety of commercial drivers and passengers.

“My position is that FRSC’s policy on speed limiter device should be implemented across board and both private and commercial vehicles should all install the device at the same time.

“For the FRSC to focus only on commercial vehicles, while private vehicles are allowed to drive at full speed will make commercial vehicles vulnerable.

“They will be vulnerable to armed bandits who obviously will attack them using higher speed automobiles,” he said.

NAN reports that FRSC, had with effect from Oct. 1, 2016, introduced the speed limiting device to peg maximum speed for commercial vehicles at 100km/h, while private vehicles still use maximum speed automobiles.

Okaforanyanwu said as a law-abiding company, “ITC has started complying because a lot of ITC vehicles are being installed with the device by one of the accredited FRSC companies”.

The ITC chairman also used the medium to throw more light on the alleged sealing of the company’s head office by Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) over tax evasion.

Okaforanyanwu said there was no truth in the report that ITC office was sealed, but blamed the situation on information gap which was jointly addressed between the management of ITC and FIRS.

“FIRS did not seal ITC office; it was a problem of reconciliation that brought the operatives of the FIRS to ITC.

“And when they came we brought our books and showed them the method of our payments and they were satisfied, so ITC has never evaded tax payment and is not owing any tax either,” he said.

Okaforanyanwu also said that the company had addressed the issue of non-payment of 11 months’ salary arrears owed ITC workers and had sorted the problems of bank loans by the company.

“As we speak, ITC does not owe any bank any dime, we have equally addressed the problem of the 11months’ salary arrears we met which has increased the confidence of workers on the management,” he said.