The Oyo State Road Transport Management Authority (OYRTMA) says it will begin enforcement operations in all local government areas of the state against the indiscriminate display of wares on road corridors.

The executive chairman of OYRTMA, Akin Fagbemi, said the action would be taken against traders adamant on road encroachment to display their wares and goods.

Mr Fagbemi spoke while playing host to Olaide Popoola, the executive chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area in Ibadan.

He said the traders were fond of encroaching on the roads along Soka Junction, Eleyele-Ologuneru Road, Mokola Roundabout, Challenge, Iwo-Road and other identified spots.

Mr Fagbemi said that the agency has moved to further integrate relationships with local government authorities across the state to consolidate its existing Community Traffic Management System.

The transport management chairman said that this was in line with the sustainable development agenda of the state government under Governor

Seyi Makinde.

He said, “The new step is a crucial subset of the broader Sustainable Traffic Management Initiative to ease traffic flow, reduce road crashes and enthrone sanity on all roads within the State.”

Mr Fagbemi assured the council chairman of OYRTMA’s commitment to expand the existing relationship with the government further, particularly as it remains the centre of several commercial and industrial hubs of the state.

Commenting, Mr Popoola said the residents were fond of disobeying traffic laws.

“This is not only inimical to the wellbeing of the communities, but also serves as a great bane for development.”

According to him, a typical example is the popular Soka Junction in the Oluyole Local Government Area, where untold hardship is being melted on commuters daily due to indiscriminate parking by motorists, hawking and illegal road encroachment by traders, as well as abuse of government land by some individuals.

“We have to step in to put a sustainable stop to this menace, and the role of OYRTMA in achieving this is apparently non-negligible,” Mr Popoola said.

(NAN)