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The governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai on Friday in Kaduna said that the trailer parks in Maraban Jos and Tafa would commence operation by December.
The governor said this when officials of the state branch of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
According to El-Rufai, the two trailer parks will be operational at the same time.
He said both facilities will have restaurants and hotels to enhance comfort of drivers and passengers.
The governor called on the union members to be law abiding in discharging their duties, warning that the government would not condone any act of lawlessness.
He expressed disappointment over recent blockade of Kaduna-Zaria highway by drivers over a misunderstanding with some security agents.
“We will not allow that anymore, any driver that felt harassed by the security agency should reports rather taking law into their hands which will end up affecting a lot of innocent citizens,’’ he said.
He stressed that, henceforth, any driver found engaging in such act would be punished accordingly, adding that one person’s offence should not affect innocent commuters.
The governor urged the transport workers union to sensitise their members toward engaging in positive behaviour along highways and always be law abiding.
According to him, the state government will enact a law to empower it confiscate and destroy any vehicle that block the highway making life difficult for other road users.
He assured that the state government would continue to support the union, but would not accept any negative act including road blockage.
Gov. El-Rufai further urged the union to also aid the security with useful information on bandits movement.
Earlier, Mallam Alhassan Haruna, state Chairman of NURTW, called on the government to do more in the provision of security along the highways.
According to him, road transport has reduced drastically due to the fear of kidnapping along the highway.
I pray that government will find a way of addressing this menace, Haruna said.
While calling on government to intervene on issues between security and drivers on the high ways, he said blockage of roads was not usually done by registered members of the union.
He also decried the deployment of too many road marshals in the state who duplicate their duties at every point and making it difficult for drivers to operate freely.
“We want the government to look into that so as to make it easier for our drivers to operate,’’ he said. (NAN)
