Ibrahim Shuaibu
The Kano State Government has offered 50 Toyota Corolla cars to tricycle and commercial taxis operators, for the public transport system in the metropolis.
The Managing Director of Kano State Investment and Properties, Dr. Jubrilla Mohammad, disclosed this to journalists yesterday immediately after signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and leadership of tricycle and taxis operators.
Mohammad said the intervention is to ease the pain of commuters as a result of restrictions placed on tricycles.
He explained the intention of the government to transform Kano into a mega city required a reformation of its public transport system, which warranted the restriction of tricycle operations in some areas of the metropolis.
The managing director said the government through his agency has introduced the first batch of 50 commercial taxis and 100 mass transport buses to replace the withdrawn tricycles on the selected routes.
While signing the MoU, Mohammad noted that each vehicle is purchased at the sum of N3.7 million, and would be sold for hire and purchase model at the sum of N4.5 million. He emphasised that parties agreed that the temporary owner would make initial payment of N250,000 while the total sum must be remitted by installment in three years.
According to him, “The intervention is to reduce congestion, sanitise the transportation system and proliferation of commercial tricycles within the metropolis. You will recall that the government has placed restrictions on commercial tricycles on some roads. So the introduction of the taxis is to replace the gap.
“As a government agency, we are entrusted to invest in the transport system to alleviate the pain of the people. The owners will fill an agreement form to manage it responsibly. It is important to note that operations of the taxis are within the metropolis. Any driver that takes the car outside the metropolis would be detected and prosecuted because there is a tracker attached to them.”
On the deployment of mass buses, Vice Chairman, Kano Metropolitan Transport Company, Yusuf Aliyu Yakasai, said the government invested N2.6 billion to purchase 100 buses.
Yakasai, who stated that passengers are required to make transport fare electronically, added that 18, 000 automated smart cards for payment have been disbursed to residents.
