There has been a unanimous agreement that the Delta State Passengers’ Welfare Scheme currently in operation in the state is a worthwhile policy of the government in the overall interest of passengers of commercial vehicles and Deltans in general.
This position was unanimously endorsed at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Asaba, yesterday where it was also agreed that all motor parks across the state must comply, to maximize the benefit of the scheme.
The stakeholders’ meeting was attended by the chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, Delta State Chapter, Mr. Victor Ebonka; the state chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Chief Francis Ariyo; all branch chairmen of NURTW in the state; representatives of the state Ministry of Transport, among others.
Briefing newsmen on the outcome of the meeting, the consultant to the scheme, Egogo Lawrence, said it went well, adding that at the end of the day all the stakeholders were on the same page.
According to him, it was unanimously agreed that the scheme was in the best interest of Deltans, especially those patronizing commercial transport system across the State.
He said: “The meeting ended successfully and we and the ALGON chairman, the chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Delta State with his executives and all the branch chairmen across the state were in attendance.
“We had a fruitful deliberation and all the chairmen of NURTW in the state were briefed by the ALGON chairman, alongside the State chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Chief Francis Ariyo.
“Chief Ariyo actually informed all the branch chairmen of the union and their members to comply with the Passengers’ Welfare Scheme.
“He encouraged them that the scheme is a government policy and it is for the interest of the welfare of our passengers and Deltans as a whole.
“I think that they are all aware now and we all are on the same page. And I think that the success of the scheme will be achieved with all the cooperation.”
Answering questions as to whether public motor parks should comply with the operation of the Scheme, Egogo stated that with the directive by the state executive of NURTW yesterday, every motor park, private or public must comply.
“With the directive yesterday by the executives to all their members, I think that everybody should be on the same page and we are all flowing. It’s just yesterday the directive was given to them and I think that in the next few days we shall be seeing the level of compliance,” he said.
It would be recalled that the implementation of the Delta State Passengers’ Welfare Scheme which started a few months ago has been progressing with awareness being created for the public to know the benefits of complying with it.
The scheme, which is being implemented in line with the extant law, Delta State Passengers’ Welfare Scheme 2002 Law of Delta State, was designed for the purpose of compensating, as well as giving medical care to passengers whose journeys originate from the state and who unfortunately, are victims of road accidents within and outside Delta State.
On Thursday October 28, 2021, victims of road crash along Benin-Lagos route, travelling with Libra Motors on Saturday October 23 were presented with a cheque of N108,500 (One hundred and eight thousand, five hundred naira) from the State, as support, under the Delta State Passengers’ Welfare Scheme.
The scheme involves passengers paying a token of money per trip within and outside the state and their identities entered into a manifest by the operators of the parks with a copy given to the drivers.
Investigation reveals that the scheme is operational in most States of the federation.
All efforts to get the state chairman of NURTW, Chief Francis Ariyo to react to the outcome of their joint meeting yesterday have proved unsuccessful.
