The Federal Government has approved N10bn to cushion the sufferings encountered by road transport workers and operators as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, disclosed this on Wednesday when the president of the Public Transport Owners of Nigeria Association, Isaac Uhunwagho, led the association’s National Executive Committee and Trustees to visit her in Abuja.
She said the fund was domiciled at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment and that her ministry was working on the modalities for the fund’s disbursement.
Saraki said she was also working with the Ministry of Works and Housing on the concessionning of some routes which, according to her, is the best way to go to increase government revenue.
The minister urged the group to avoid duplicity and formalise their structures in an organised manner for better engagements with the ministry and other relevant agencies.
Earlier, Uhunwagho had appealed for COVID-19 financial palliatives for members to prevent their businesses from folding up, saying ”PTONA members felt the impact of the lockdown the most as their branded buses could not operate due to the ban on interstate travel.” (NAN)
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