Governor Godwin Obaseki says Edo State government has placed orders for new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-buses to boost its fleet for the state’s free transport scheme.
The governor said this in his Independence Day speech, noting that his administration is “taking critical steps within the limits of the resources available to us as a state by initiating and implementing policies and programmes to respond to the recent fuel subsidy removal policy by the Federal Government.”
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According to him, “We have introduced free transport service for passengers on all routes operated by the state-owned Edo City Transport Service (ECTS), among many support programmes that the Edo State government has put in place to reduce the challenge, sufferings and exorbitant cost of living faced by Edo people.
Obaseki said the free transport initiative covers 13 intra-city routes and several intercity routes.
Over three hundred thousand residents have benefited from the scheme in the first two weeks of the palliative programme, while we expect over 1,500,000 residents to benefit in the initial two months of the free transport initiative. We have placed new orders for additional CNG-run buses to increase the fleet.”
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On other measures being adopted to ameliorate the effect of the hardship caused by high transport fares, he said: “We also launched a 24-hour free Wi-Fi service in various MDAs and other public places in the state to provide unlimited internet access to workers and other residents to enable them work effectively and efficiently from selected public spaces.”
