The Federal Government has approved N10 billion to cushion the sufferings encountered by road transport workers and operators as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of State for Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, made this when she received in audience the National Executive Committee and Trustees of Public Transport Owners of Nigeria Association (PTONA) led by the President Isaac Uhunwagho.
A statement on Wednesday by Saraki in Abuja, said she informed the delegation that the fund was domiciled at the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment adding that the Ministry of Transportation was currently working on the modalities for its disbursement.
While appreciating the fact that 90 per cent of Nigerians travelled by road, Saraki stated that the Federal government would soon initiate a master plan that would reform the sector and called for the support of all stakeholders in that regard.
On challenges operators faced from State governments and other stakeholders, the Minister assured that she would discuss the issues through the National Transport Commissioners Forum.
Saraki said she was also working with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing on the concessionning of some routes which according to her was the best way to go to increase government revenue.
READ ALSO: Asaba Residents Groan As Transporters Increase Fares
She further, enjoined the group to avoid duplicity and formalise their structures in an organised manner for better engagements, with the ministry and other relevant agencies.
The National President of PTONA, Uhunwagho, stated that their visit was in respect to the challenges being faced by the body.
He appreciate the efforts of the Minister towards ameliorating the challenges PTONA has been facing since the pandemic in February, 2020.
The PTONA president appealed for COVID-19 financial palliatives for members to prevent their businesses from folding up.
The statement quoted him as saying: “PTONA members felt the impact of the lockdown the most as their branded buses could not operate due to the ban on interstate travel.”
According to Uhunwagho, the general motor parks did not comply with the ban as their parks became a safe haven for flouting the ban and they enjoyed black market transportation boom.
He decried the fact that in spite the fact that PTONA members were major investors in the transportation sector, their companies were the prime target for state and local government authorities who imposed taxes, levies and other ridiculous conditions.
Uhunwagho said these challenges among others formed the basis of their visit to the Minister.
