By Charles Ebi
Federal Government, through the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative ,PCNGI, yesterday kicked off the enforcement of a 40% reduction in transportation fares on routes in the Federal Capital Territory ,FCT, Abuja.
Addressing journalists at the Area 1 Motor Park, venue of the launch of the exercise, David Idakwo, Regional CNG Expansion Coordinator in charge of the North, said that the reduction resulted from strong collaboration with the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers ,NURTW, adding that the 40% reduction in transportation fares applies to routes serviced by vehicles converted to Compressed Natural Gas ,CNG, made possible through a collaboration between the Presidential CNG Initiative ,PCNGI, and the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers ,NURTW.
“What we agreed with the National Union of Road Transport Workers, they have given us the prices, the fare amount from Area 1 to different destinations when they were running on petrol and we have come together, made an analysis and achieved a 40% reduction in the fare, in the transportation from Area 1 to all other destinations.
“What I have here on my paper, Area 1 to Gwagwalada when they were on fuel was going for N1,500, we have been able to reduce it to N900. Area 1 to Bwari Dutse is also N1,500, that also has been reduced to N900. Area 1 to Kuje when they were running on petrol is N1,200, that also has been reduced to N720.
Area 1 to Galadimawa was N500, it has been reduced to N300. Area 1 to Mpape is N1,000, that has been reduced to N600. Area 1 to Zuba is N1,500 and that also has been reduced to N900. Area 1 to Lugbe is N700 before now, it is now N420. Area 1 to Jabi is N700, it has also been reduced to N420.
“The reduction project will continue. More cars have been converted and we move from here now. We are going to go to Area 3 where we have also done a reduction of their prices. We are going to all other parks within Abuja and eventually the country”.
He said that so far, over 50% of the commercial vehicles in the nation’s capital have been converted to CNG, stressing that more are being converted as the exercise is continuous.
He assured that the aim is to cover all vehicles and crash transport fares in Abuja and across the country.
He said, “So I can authoritatively tell you that we have converted over 50% of their vehicles, and like I said, we are doing this in conjunction with leadership, and they are here, they are seeing us, they can confirm these figures, and the conversion is still a continuous process.
“It’s not like we are done yet, but we will continue. Even right here, we still have our members here taking records of those cars that are yet to be converted, and the conversion will continue”.
To ensure full compliance, he said the PCNGI in collaboration with NURTW have sent out mystery shoppers pretending to be commuters along all the designated routes to fish out cheating drivers and report them.
He said that a sticker has been placed on each of the vehicles for easy identification, advising commuters to always look out for the sticker before boarding to enjoy the benefits of the initiative.
In his remarks, Ibrahim Jubril, Secretary Garki Branch of NURTW, said the union was carried along when the programme was launched, stressing that it was all part of efforts of the President to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians about movement from one point to the other.
“As it stands today, many of our vehicles have been converted, and the conversion is ongoing. When we noticed that the majority of our vehicles have been converted, we put a taskforce in place to ensure price reduction for the ones that have been converted”, he said.
