Kano Govt Develops Policy To Address Transportation Challenges
By Abdullahi Yusuf
Kano State Government is developing a State Transport Policy to address the transportation challenges facing the state.
The State Commissioner for Transportation, Engr. Muhammad Ibrahim Diggol,disclosed this while addressing newsmen at the NUJ press centre, Kano,on Wednesday.
Diggol said the policy would provide a framework for current and future transportation decisions in the state.
He said part of the processes for the development of the policy would entail a stakeholder consultation to review the draft policy and where stakeholders are expected to make contribution and constructive criticism on the draft document.
He said this would enrich the draft document such that the final policy document would be implemented collectively.
The commissioner noted that the challenges of providing modern, efficient, and effective transportation in the state were becoming enormous.
This, he said, were largely due to the increasing population and commercial status of the state.
“Without ease of access to places of work, education, health and other social amenities the quality of life suffers. And without easy access to markets and industries, economic growth stagnates and poverty prevails,”he said.
Diggol said the policy, would among other things, serve as a working framework for overall transportation development and create an enabling environment for private sector participation in the state’s transportation economy.
“The transport policy will usher in a new dawn and renewed government efforts in the actualization of the vision and mission of transportation development.
“The vision and mission for the development of transportation in the Kano State Development Master Plan is to provide good accessibility to socio-economic activities for all residents of Kano State within acceptable environmental standards;
“One that supports a modern multimodal transport system that satisfies the needs of the people of the state and also meets the standard of a world-class city,” he said.
He listed the draft components of the policy as:Provision of public transport services and other services,Quality and quantity regulation standards, Land Use and Urban Planning, Traffic Management, Rail Mass Transit and Water and Air Transportation.
