AMAC frowns at FCT Transport Secretariat over return of park-and-pay policy

BY Usman Shuaibu 

The administration of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has frowned at the Mandate Secretary in charge of Transport Secretariat of the FCT Administration, Hon. Abdullahi Adamu Candido over the return of Park-and pay policy.

This was contained in a press statement signed by Senior Special Assistant on Community Development to the Chairman of AMAC, Mr. Yunusa Yusuf Ahmadu and made available to Peoples Daily Correspondent in Abuja.

According to the statement, it is worrisome for the FCT Transport Secretariat to cook up a Kangaroo way to begin park-and-pay which ideally the law does not permit them to do, because they do not have the power to do that.

The statement said “Candido should know clearly that gone are those days when he was the Chairman, he cannot be mandate Secretary and be the Chairman of AMAC at the same time, it is not allowed, it is either he is mandate secretary.

“There are so many laws he should concentrate on, we have issues in train station, people are dying, neighboring communities are sacrificed for train stations and railway, let him go and attend to those issues, we know how people’s bags are being snatched in train stations. I think he has enough job to do rather than concentrating on how to collect park and pay or co-operate parking or whatever he calls it, it solely the responsibility to enforce it and ensure that we get it done”.

It said; “We want to warn clearly that we know the Minister as a law-abiding citizen and nobody should cajole the Minister to do wrong thing, we want to tell Candido that we have records of how he never allowed the park and pay to see the light of the day when it was initially introduced by the FCDA”.

The statement urged the FCT Administration to hands off the policy planned which may take-off by the end of the first quarter of the year and described the act as unjustifiable capable of denying AMAC to get its legitimate revenue in order to provide basic amenities to the residents.

The statement, however, noted that plan if allowed to come back, it would affect the revenue generation in the council, pointing out that the law did not permit another body to collect or manage motorists’ activities especially on streets and motor parks.