Politics
NASS okays reintroduction of park and pay in Abuja
The National Assembly, has empowered the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA to reintroduce the banned park-and-pay system by motorists in Abuja.
This was sequel to the passage of a bill for concurrence on the “FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Administration Service Bill, 2019” by the Senate and House of Representatives.
The new bill which was earlier passed by the House of Representatives, also got unanimous approval by the Senate during plenary on Thursday.
It empowers the FCTA in collaboration with the Territory’s Internal Revenue Service to embark on the overall enforcement of parking rules in the nation’s capital.
The proposed agency, if the bill is signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, before the expiration of the 8th Senate, will among others, review the parking fees and enforce the parking laws in the FCT.
The park-and-pay system became a controversial issue about five years ago before a court judgment stopped the FCTA from further collecting fees from residents for on and off the street parking within the Territory.
The bill also saddled the proposed agency with the responsibilities of producing and administering vehicle and drivers’ licences in collaboration with relevant federal agencies.
The specific functions of the FCT traffic management service as contained the bill are, regulating road traffic management and motor vehicle administration within the FCT.
The agency would also regulate, register, revoke, license and the renew motor vehicle documents and issuance of vehicle identification number plates in the FCT.
Similarly, it would conduct road worthiness test and issue road worthiness certificates to all categories of vehicles for the purposes of ridding the FCT of non-road worthy vehicles.
The agency would also be responsible for the training and testing drivers to ensure competence for issuance of drivers licence in the FCT.
It was also planned to regulate and enforce the use of bus stops and bus terminal and the activities of the commercial motor vehicles as well as register and enforce and accredit driving schools and enforce the ban on the use of motorcycles as a means of public transport in the FCT.
The officers of the new agency as contained in the bill have been mandated to arrest and book any person who commit traffic offences like wrong overtaking, traffic light violation, and driving with expired documents or without driving licence.
They are also to arrest anyone that drives right-hand vehicles, drivers who exceed driving limit, drives against the traffic or obstruct traffic through illegal parking among others.
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