The Commissioner for Transportation in Enugu State, Hon. Obi Ozor, has disclosed government’s plan to overhaul the system of transportation in the state through remodeling and digitalisation process that would improve security and facilitate ease of doing business.
The commissioner, who revealed this at a press briefing at the Ministry of Transportation in Enugu, Thursday, said the development was in line with the programme of governor Mbah’s administration to modernize the means of transportation, through alternative transport systems such as the construction of mono-rail tracks across the different parts of the state, and enhanced water transportation for movement of goods and delivery of services.
He said that part of the goals of the administration was to make the state attractive to investors who will contribute to the $30 billion economy the governor had proposed, and also create jobs for the teeming youths.
While noting that essential to the heart of the transportation sector was security of lives and property of the people, Ozor insisted that running a smart transportation system which would include having the biometrics of every vehicle operating in the state would help to prevent crimes and boost the confidence of the citizens.
“The monorails we have proposed, including fixing the railway lines will also provide a lot of job opportunities. Enugu State is the hub of the Southeast economy, so we need to deploy monorails to reduce the cost of transportation for the people of the state. This will also be used as a tool for regional integration of the Southeast economy.
“The air transportation in the state has received a boost especially with the cancellation of the illegal sit at home by His Excellency. With this, the capacity can be increased and we have more plans of people coming into Enugu, and this will create a lot of jobs for the people of the state.
“The vision of the ministry is to bring multi-modal mode of transportation, digital integration across transportation and to generate a lot of revenue through this new infrastructure,” he added.
While fielding questions from newsmen on the area of revenue collection, the commissioner said the e-governance process which is “revenue assurance” usually called e-ticketing in some quarters was actually a way to guarantee that all the monies coming from transportation gets to the stakeholders involved in the management of the state.
“The system ensures that the unions and vehicle owners get their money; it also ensures that government also gets its fair share in order to reinvest it into the transportation system,” he concluded.
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