Fred Itua, Abuja
Determined to ease traffic congestion during peak periods, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has stopped personnel of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) from harassing vehicle owners while driving in the city before 10 am each day.
The new directive comes amidst the Administration’s stance that there is no going back on its earlier decision to restrict the movement of heavy-duty vehicles in the territory to off-peak periods. It said there will be severe sanctions for those who violate the policy.
Prior to the new policy, the FCT Administration had ordered that vehicle inspections should commence from 9 am. However, following a series of meetings with stakeholders, an additional hour was added to avoid clogging the roads during the early morning rush hour.
Chairman, FCT Ministerial Task Team on Traffic Management, Mr Ikharo Attah, who announced this in a statement Monday in Abuja, explained that the decision was borne out of complaints from residents of the city that the checking of vehicles from 9 am has compounded the traffic snarl in the city, leading to loss of man-hours.
“By this, the road traffic officers of various agencies must focus on freeing traffic from 5 am to 10 am in the morning. They are to commence checking of vehicles and their particulars from 10 am across the city,” he said.
Ikharo was quick to point out that “the enforcement does not affect the stopping and arrest of heavy-duty vehicles driving during peak traffic periods. Any such vehicle must be stopped from plying the road in accordance with approved policy to avert fatal road crashes occasioned by break failures usually associated with such heavy-duty vehicles.”
Attah further dismissed reports that traffic officials were causing traffic congestion by checking vehicle particulars in the evenings on the Abuja-Keffi road. He said all traffic officers on evening duty do not check documents but are positioned to sustain a seamless flow of traffic.
He, however, warned that the shift in the commencement of vehicles inspection time is not a licence for drivers of rickety vehicles to flood the city in the morning.