Ownership structure’ll kill railway upgrade unless FG privatizes sub-sector—NARTO boss
The President of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Dr. Kassim Bataiya, speaking during the body’s National Executive Council meeting held in Abuja, has warned that ownership structure that collapsed previous investments in the Nigerian railway sub-sector may rear its head again, if it is not privatized after the ongoing reforms and upgrade.
While calling on the speedy build up to the privatisation of the sector, noted that “There is a concerted effort by the current administration to modernise and expand the Nigerian railways. What made the railway inefficient and moribund was partly its ownership structure. Being an agency of government, it depends largely on government subvention and is subjected to government control and bureaucracy.
“However, all these will soon change with privatisation of the sub-sector. Already, plans have almost been concluded to bring in General Electric (GE) to be a core investor. Our members must rise up and take up this challenge. Nothing must stop us from expanding the frontier of our business.”
NARTO members used the NEC meeting to call on the government to speed up delivery of several federal roads so as to reduce carnage on the highways on a daily basis.
