Press Releases

LARUTI Tricycles Must Ply Only Rural Areas – LASG

Jan 26, 2010 - The Lagos State Government on Tuesday directed the beneficiaries and operators of the Lagos State Rural Transport Initiatives (LARUTI) tricycles to restrict their operations to only designated rural areas and not the highways in the metropolis.

The State Government’s position was made known by the Commissioner for Rural Development, Prince Lanre Balogun during a joint Press Conference organized by the Ministries of Information and Strategy, Rural Development and Transportation at the Bagauda Khalto Press Centre.

He said the law will take its course if anyone is found flouting the law by operating the LARUTI tricycle within the major highways.

Prince Balogun added that the essence of LARUTI was to boost rural transportation and empower the citizenry in the rural areas in the State.

He said that the tricycles were meant to enable farmers take their stocks from rural areas to urban centres and also commute passengers in rural areas such as Epe, Ikorodu, Badagry and inner most areas in Igando rather than operating them on highways such as the Third Mainland Bridge, Central Business District (CBD) and Ikeja to mention just a few.

The Commissioner said because of the pressing demand for the tricycles, the Ministry has got an approval to produce an additional 270 tricycles to the existing 320 tricycles.

He urged those who had deposited the sum of N100,000 only in their own personal savings account but could no longer wait to take their turn, to withdraw their deposits as the money is not in Government coffers.

The Special Adviser on Transportation, Mr Kayode Opeifa, who also addressed the media appealed to the operators to comply with the directive of the State Government.

He urged those operators who are not clear as to the rural areas to ply, to visit the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Transportation for more clarifications.

Mr Opeifa informed that LASTMA will embark on advocacy and interactive sessions with the operators on the best way forward to obey government’s directive on the issue.

He said that since the Lagos State Government is a responsible one that believes in public education and enlightenment before enforcement, the officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) would engage in consultations with the operators before enforcing the order.

Opeifa said that the officials have been properly briefed, designated to meet the operators at their various parks and educate them on the need to restrict their operations to the rural areas. He added that the operators could also consult LASTMA men who are at every junction whenever they want to obtain information on the necessary routes to ply.

Responding to the issue of 7PM to 7AM restriction imposed on the 3- Wheeler operators and KEKE NAPEP in certain areas by the Police, the Special Adviser said that the issue is a security concern which is being taken up by the State Government and hopefully would be resolved very soon.

He used the opportunity to warn that the operators (3- Wheeler operators and KEKE NAPEP) should obey all traffic rules and regulations as any disobedience would not be tolerated.

Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr Hakeem Bello urged all the operators of the LARUTI tricycle to bear in mind that the scheme was designed basically to aid movement in the rural areas and should not be defeated by outright plying of the metropolis.

Among those who attended the briefing were the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Mr Seyi Coker, his Rural Development counterpart, Mr Muyideen Akinsanya, Chief Executive Officer of LASTMA, Mr Young Arebamen, and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Speech and Communication, Dr Tunde Opeibi.