BusinessDay 26 Feb 2018

Monday 26 February 2018
42 BUSINESS DAY
C002D5556
Kaduna creates transport sector framework
to fast track private investment
PETER IBRAHIM
Kaduna state is uniquely positioned
to serve as a gateway between
the north, Federal Capital Territory
(FCT) Abuja and the western part of
the state, thus making it the logistics
and transportation hub of the north.
The state’s transport sector is a high
potential sector that could help transform
the state’s economy as regional
flow of goods and persons is increasing
over years.
As the administration of Mallam
Nasir El-Rufai seeks private investors
towards achieving industrialisation,
economic growth and diversification,
the administration took the required
step to create a sectorial and legal
framework, which was absent for
decades. There is now in place a clear
framework for the transport sector,
thus clearing the road for the development
of mass transit system that is
private sector driven.
The development and regulation
of transportation is now under the supervision
of Kaduna State Transport
Regulatory Agency (KADSTRA), a
new agency created by law to regulate
the sector, unlike what obtained in the
past where eight MDAs played various
and conflicting roles in regulating
transport.
Ai’sha Sai’du Bala is the Pioneer
Director General of KADSTRA. In this
interview, she disclosed that the stage
is now set for private sector players to
come into the state. She said Kaduna’s
transportation sector “is viable and
opened for the private investors”. She
speaks on what the state government
to develop a modern and effective
mass transit system in the state.
Excerpts:
Transport if a key player in every
economy. We will like to know
what has been done to develop
the sector since the coming of this
administration.
The first thing we need to point out is
that although when this government
came in they have a rostrum of what
it wanted to do with transport, what
we realised was that the institutional
framework of transportation in
Kaduna was very flawed. So the first
thing that we did was to go back
and reorganised the transport sector
which was in complete disarray
and has not been touched for several
decades.
Fortunately for us DFID and the
World Bank had done some work
with us in the sector to assist with
our reforms. That has taken us about
three years which you will appreciate
because of the history of the total
absence of structure and regulation
in the transport sector. It took us
quite a while to go back to where we
were before to try to sort the sector
out and produce reforms as it were.
And I am happy to report that we
have passed a transport policy which
has never existed in the state and we
have cleaned up the sector because
when this administration came up
Ai’sha Sa’idu Bala, Pioneer DG of Kaduna State Transportation Regulatory Agency-KADSTRA.
we actually had eight different MDs
that were handling transportation
matters. But we are able to clean it up
so that the Ministry of Works, Housing
and Transport now has created
KADSTRA, Kaduna State Transport
Regulatory Agency, which is new
agency created to run the affairs of
transportation sector
What will the State Transport
Regulatory Agency (KADSTRA) do
in the state?
Historically transport in Nigeria has
been unregulated. As you know,
if you own a car, a tricycles or any
vehicle you will just register them as
normal vehicle and just start plying
the roads. There are no requirements
as to what you can do with your car,
what you as a driver can do, what
routes you can ply what is legal and
what is illegal for you to do? We have
now sorted all these out. I think in Nigeria,
Kaduna is the third state after
Lagos and Kano that actually started
these transports reforms with DFID.
So what we are now going into
as regulatory agency is to sanitise
the sector and start regulating the
practitioners out there. Whether it
is a tricycle, a bus, a taxi, a train, or
even water ways, we want to develop
a system of regulation to sanitise the
services that we got out there.
The reason why we have chaos
in Kaduna city is not because we
have a lot of people driving. It is
the way that we use the road; it is
the way that the people are driving,
where they are driving and
what time they are driving. That is
what KADSTRA is going to do to
sanitise the mass transit sector for
the peopleand for the practitioners.
This is a sector that employs
thousands of people so we need
to regulate it so that we can have a
conducive environment for those
working in the sector. Also for the
personages, we need to regulate
the standards of safety, customer
service and also pricing. This is
where KADSTRA comes in to
ensure that both personages and
Ai’sha Sai’du Bala, DG KADSTRA, unveiling the Kaduna Light Rail
corridors prototype to Governor Nasir El-Rufai and other members of
Kaduna State Executive Council.
practitioners are regulated.
What is the situation of the Kaduna
State Transport Authority
(KSTA) which has fleets of vehicles
operating in the state?.
What we found was that the fundamental
structure of KSTA was
flawed from the start. So there is
nothing much we can do with it.
The Government started probably
what suited it in the 70s. So what
happens to KSTA is that the law establishing
KSTA has been repealed
and the government is now going
to establish Kaduna line.
The government is now making
arrangements to have a Public
Private Partnership (PPP) for the
transport sector to be private
driven. Historically, PPP arrangement
works better in the transport
sector and you will find that across
the world. That is what the Kaduna
state government is trying to do to
establish a relationship with the
private sector to so that we would
not have to use public money to
buy the buses constantly and loos
the money and all the troubles
we had before. So KSTA is being
converted into Kaduna line and
we are going into a PPP with the
private sector.
That brings me to the question;
Can we now say the transport sector
has potential for investors and
are there investors now interested
in coming to invest in this sector?
I think now the sector is more attractive
than before because we now
have a framework that supports this.
Three years ago we would not have
attracted any private investment
because we were in a position to do
so. As an investor you want certainty
about anything you are investing
into; we did not know about our
ridership, we did not know who went
where, but we have seen some travel
demand manifests and we have fair
knowledge of who travels where in
Kaduna and if you come to us as
an investor we can tell you what is
a lucrative route and what route is
not lucrative.
We have this new agency KADS-
TRA that investors can have relationship
with depending on what area
of mass transit you are coming into.
So have got the support and we got
the framework. So it is a lot easier
now for investors. We are absolutely
ready, and opened for investments
in this sector.
So let us now talk about the light
rail projects the Kaduna State Government
is pursuing. Where are we
now in realising this?
As you know Kaduna has a population
of some 3 million people and is
also a growing city. It is a thoroughfair
for so many cities in northern
Nigeria especially. So we are looking
into the future, where Kaduna
will be in 20, 30 to 50 years. So we
are looking to establish a plan with
regard to infrastructure that would
take Kaduna that far forward which
is one of the reasons we look into the
light rail project.
As you know it is a very complex
and costly venture but we are looking
into starting at least a priority
project which is starting with a corridor.
In future starting light rail
across the city is what is going to
work but we are looking into starting
a preliminary corridor on the rail
line which is Ahmadu Bello Way,
which is the busiest road in Kaduna
and also in the north. That is where
our concentration is. There is also
an option of BRT.
At the moment we are in talks
with a private company to see
about developing that system. And
because you are putting that infrastructure
into an established city,
there is a lot that needs to be taken
into consideration. The preliminary
studies have taken place and we are
still meeting with the company that
is going to do this.
We saw some positive developments
in the sector in the state
recently. Train services, the first
Inland Dry Port and international
flights services have are now operating
in Kaduna. How does the
state see these developments?
We are very proud that this development
came to Kaduna and we
are very privileged. We are taking
it very seriously and we will ensure
that whatever plans or policies we
are going to take in the future actually
take these into consideration.
You know if you want to develop
transport you have to make it as
integrative as possible. So we are
trying to see that every step we take
from now actually take all these
into consideration and also make
the most of it really to complement
the services that are here. These developments
will make a significant
economic and social impact on the
citizens of the state.
Something that we are trying
to do is to use Kaduna as a springboard
of mass transits. As you know
Kaduna state has three large cities;
Kaduna Zaria and Kafanchan. So
what we are doing is to use Kaduna
as a springboard of mass transit
development and from here then
transfer them to places like Zaria
and Kafanchan.
Obviously whatever system we
are developing has to suit the local
situation as it stands but we are using
Kaduna as a springboard.