Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Planet Project Ltd, Mr Biodun Otunola, says the Kugbo and Mabushi Bus and Taxi Terminals, Abuja, are designed to process more than 10,000 passengers each, daily.
Otunola made this known in Abuja on Thursday, on the sideline of the inauguration of the Kugbo Bus and Taxi Terminal by President Bola Tinubu to celebrate his second year in office.
He added that the terminals, constructed by Planet Project, a local contractor, were also designed to accommodate 120 buses and taxis each, daily, for both intercity and intracity travels.
He, however, said that the terminal under construction in the Central Business District (CBD) was different, adding that it was essentially designed for intracity operations.
“We can take over 120 buses here and we’ve designed this place such that it can handle up to 10,000 passengers every day.
“It’s the same thing with the one in Mabushi as well. The same concept but the one at CBD, which is the third one, is a bit different.
“The one at CBD is essentially for the city operation within Abuja, while Mabushi and Kugbo are designed to run intracity and intercity operations,” he said.
On job opportunities, Otunola said that each of the three terminals would employ at least 100 persons.
He explained that people would be in the security department, some in the ticketing department, others in facility management, control room, electrical department, mechanical department, maintenance department, and bus control.
“It’s very huge. It’s like running a mini airport,” he said.
The managing director pointed out that Abuja, before now, has always been about car and road transportation, noting that for the first time, the government had invested in public transport to ensure comfort and safety.
He described the facility as a “transportation hub for the masses”, built in tandem with similar facilities found anywhere in the world.
“So, if you come here and you are travelling to any part of Nigeria, including within Abuja as well, you will have the lift, the escalator, and you will have security.
“This place provides you with safety, comfort and convenience for you to travel, and you can also shop while you are travelling. This is what we have all over the world.
“We have all the modern facilities – fully air-conditioned, you have a loading bay area for passengers, you can eat here, you can have public convenience and cinema.
“We also have escalators; we have lifts and we have a ticketing area. So, the area of stressing yourself because you are traveling is over.
“Now you can travel with convenience, you can travel with ease, with safety and peace of mind and that’s exactly what we have here,” he said.
He added that with this development, people would be able to travel with confidence and without any fear, in a very safe, secure and serene environment.
He commended Tinubu and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike for giving Planet Project, a local contractor the opportunity to showcase its capacity to execute world standard bust terminals for the residents of the territory.
“I feel very happy that the Nigerian government is beginning to trust its own people to do the right thing and to execute this kind of project.
“Although this is not the first project we have executed, but to have pioneered this in the FCT is no doubt a very, very major achievement for us.
“We are grateful to President Tinubu for giving us this opportunity and also the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike because if they don’t believe in us, they will not try us and they wouldn’t have achieved this result,” he said.
Otunola commended Wike for the decision to handover the facilities to the private sector to manage to ensure efficiency and quality service delivery.
He, however, said that based on needs assessment, the FCT would need at least 12 bus and taxi terminals to cover significant parts of the territory.
“We will need one in Gwagwalada, one in Kuje in Gwarinpa, and Lugbe, including the city centre in places like Area 1, Area 3 in Garki, Wuse and other strategic locations,” he said.
Earlier, Tinubu, who was represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, said that the terminals would equally boost trade, bring orderliness, safety and comfort to commuters.
In his remarks, Wike thanked Tinubu for supporting the ongoing transformation in the FCT, including public transportation through the construction of bus and taxi terminals.
He said that with the bus terminals, residents do not need to be waiting on the roadside for vehicles, exposing them to once chance criminal operators.
