By Sarah NEGEDU
Over three years after the Federal Capital Territory Administration halted operations at the Abuja Rail Metro Station, the FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, has directed its reopening in the shorted possible time.
Wike, who gave the directive on Wednesday shortly after a tour of the rail facilities across the territory, assured that the Abuja Light Rail project would be taken to logical conclusion.
The minister who spoke with journalists after a ride from the Abuja Metro station through Idu to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, said when fully rehabilitated the project would significantly reduce traffic congestion in the city.
“This is a good project, this is one of the projects that we will hurriedly complete and put to use. The fund for the rehabilitation is on ground and I have already directed the Permanent Secretary to make sure that the contractor is paid.
“We will work to ensure that in the next coming months, this project is commissioned and put to public use,” he assured.
The Abuja Light rail was initiated by the Goodluck Jonathan administration and was commissioned by the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The project was abandoned during COVID-19 till date leading to the vandalisation of most parts of the facility.
While adding that, transportation is one of the palliative measures of President Bola Tinubu to alleviate the suffering of the masses he stated that, “Transportation is one of the sectors we intend to intervene in the short time to reduce traffic congestion within the city.
“I know that we have a metro station in Abuja, and it is not working, why is it not working? Can we fix it within a short time?”
He noted that while there were lots of other projects that were not completed, people would have confidence on the one that was completed and working.
He further stressed that,” it was not a good idea to begin another rail project while the one that was finished is not working, saying, every project that commenced must be finished before embarking on another one, considering the availability of resources.
“I assured the public that the rail transport system is a project we will take to a logical conclusion. Before commencing another project, we will need to determine which areas are the most traffic areas. This is very important to decongest areas with traffic congestion,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, also added that assessing the problems affecting the rail transport and finding ways to address them would help in putting the system to public use.
In her words, “We are in the ARMT Metro Station to look at what is on ground, what the challenges are and what is expected of the ministry to move the transportation system to the next level.”
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola, noted that the ARMT system was challenged by massive vandalisation of rail infrastructure during COVID-19 lockdown, adding that private security companies have been engaged to salvage the situation.
He added that a measure huddle in the operation process has been addressed, adding that the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company has been assigned to manage the operation.
“We are already developing a framework for the assignment, and we look forward to this project contributing significantly to the reduction of the pains of the removal of fuel subsidy,” he said.