Niger State Government says it will not go back on the restriction order on heavy trucks plying the state-owned roads which took effect on 15th September, 2020.
This is comes on the heel of assurances by the state government that its position will be reviewed as event concerning the closure unfolds.
The state government maintained that it’s decision to close down all state government roads was done within the confines of the law stressing that adequate consultations and sensitization with relevant stakeholders were made and that two week notice was also served to general public as well as relevant road transport organisations before the roads were barricaded.
“As such, the state government will not relent on it oars to ensure that the state-owned roads are not accessed by articulated vehicles, the heavy trucks are however free to use all the federal roads that transverse the state”, a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Mary Noel Berje, read in part.
The state government said beyond the current closure to fast track the reconstruction of the Minna-Bida Road, measures would be evolved such as weigh-bridges to ensure that the movements of articulated vehicles on the state owned roads are regulated to avoid heavy flow of traffic beyond the capacity of the roads.
The state government enjoined the federal authority to rise up to the occasion and do the needful on some of the federal roads in the state, if not all.
Chairman of Infrastructure, Project Monitoring and Implementation Committee, who is also the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Ibrahim Balarabe, briefed journalists on behalf of the state government, reaffirming the state position on the issue.
“There is no going back on Niger State government’s decision on the ban on articulated trucks from plying the state-owned roads. We still stand on our position and will not relent on that. Our roads still remain closed to articulated trucks”, he stated.
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