Keke restriction, one of the most difficult decisions I have made - Bello
Minister of the FCT Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has said the restriction placed on commercial tricycle operators to certain parts of the city was one of the most difficult decisions that the FCTA has ever made.
The minister said this last week during the presentation of the FCT’s 2020 statutory budget to the joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on the FCT.
Malam Bello said the decision was imperative because commercial tricycles by law should not operate on the express and highways along with vehicles as they pose dangers to both passengers and other riders. Most roads within the Federal capital city, the minister reiterated, were expressways and thus could not accommodate the presence of the commercial tricycles and motorcycles.
He however said that the FCTA was not unmindful of the challenges commuters were facing as a result of the policy and revealed that strategies were being put in place to improve on the public transportation situation in the FCT.
On the 2020 FCT budget, Malam Bello said the FCT was proposing to spend the sum of N232, 875, 365, 947.00. This sum is made up of N53, 876, 241,095.00 (23.15%)as personnel cost, N57,070,343, 435.00 (24.52%) as overhead costs and a proposed capital expenditure of
N121,928,781, 417.00 (52.35%) as capital expenditure.
The proposal also indicated reductions in personnel and overhead costs, with N53,876,241,095.00 proposed in the 2020 budget as against the N55,543,090,041.00 in 2019, for personnel and N57,070,343,435.00 as against N57,610,188,661.00 in 2019, for overhead. These figures represent a 2% and 0.93% decrease respectively.
The sum of N121, 928,781,417.00 was proposed for capital expenditure in the 2020 budget, of which N11, 550,000,000.00 is dedicated to the completion of the light rail project and other counterpart funded related projects aimed at enhancing socioeconomic activities in the FCT.
Of the amount also, the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, got N40,282,958,388.00, the Satellite Towns Development Agency, STDA, got N33,702,830,000.00 while other Secretariats Departments and Agencies, SDAs, got N47,942,993,029.00 for their capital expenditure to address critical areas like ongoing Road construction, water treatment plants and related facilities as well as a few new projects.
On road infrastructure, the FCTA is proposing to spend the sum of N6,145, 915, 689.00 for the rehabilitation, expansion, extension and construction of 6 major roads which include the Outer Southern Expressway, Inner Southern Expressway amongst others.