LASG promises to employ more officers

The Lagos State Government said on Sunday that it would soon recruit more men and women into the State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) in a bid to improve the traffic situation in the state.

Mr Olanrewaju Elegushi, the Special Adviser on Transportation, announced this while speaking with newsmen in Lagos.

According to him, LASTMA has 2,300 personnel who are currently manning over 9,000 roads in the state.

``We are working on that and very soon, we will boost the workforce and you will see more reliable LASTMA officials on our roads,’’ Elegushi said.

Elegushi promised that the state government would also improve the working conditions of personnel of the agency.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Dayo Mobereola, said the government would ensure that transportation in general would be safe, reliable, accessible and comfortable for the residents.

``When you have reliable and efficient buses, you will find out that people will prefer to use them rather than the yellow and black commercial vehicles, the danfos and molues,’’ he said.

He said the plan was not to make the commercial bus operators jobless, but to incorporate them into the system through good training and technical know-how.

``That is our primary aim and to do this, we have to develop public transportation system very well.

``We need to develop water transportation routes, mass transportation system with good buses and efficient rail system.

``All of them complementing each other will make a liveable city.

``So, it is all of these things that are going to change and we strongly believe we can get to that point,’’ Mobereola said.

On the activities of touts on roads across the state, Mobereola said that the government would come up with a mechanism to eradicate the growing menace.

``The first thing we do not want is touts or union members collecting dues on the roads; it is a violation of the laws of the state,’’ he said.