BENIN CITY – After undergoing trainings that have been described as best-in-class, officials of the Edo State Traffic Control and Management Agency (EDSTMA) will in a matter of days take over the control of vehicular traffic on major roads across the state.
Already, expectations are high amongst motorists that the agency will restore order and sanity on the roads through the strict enforcement of traffic laws that will check unprofessional conducts of drivers which make commuting especially within Benin City a terrifying experience, despite the network of wide and motorable roads.
According to Governor Godwin Obaseki, the traffic agency will also eliminate the number of man-hours lost by workers and businesspeople to traffic congestion and the resulting chaos in parts of the state.
He said the traffic control initiative was part of a bigger plan by his administration to remove any snag that impedes on the ease of doing business in the state.
Obaseki explained that the agency was the product of a painstaking effort that adopted best-in-class procedure in designing the structure, recruitment and training of personnel and in equipping them for the job.
To ensure that the initiative is well received by all the stakeholders in the road transportation sector, the governor said, “we are working with various stakeholders in the sector including bus drivers’ unions, tricycle drivers’ associations and everybody or group that has stakes in the road transport sector.”
He urged motorists to put their vehicles in order and be ready to abide by the laws guiding their trade as mobile courts will have been set up to swiftly dispense with cases of traffic law infractions.
“With these measures we have put in place, we are confident that once we roll out, we will be able to bring an end to the traffic menace in the state,” Obaseki said.
