Suffering and smiling in Abuja without parking lots

At designated bus stops within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), law enforcement agents and men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) always engage motorists in a chase.  Motorists park indiscriminately, sometimes they park right on the road to either pick or drop passengers. The situation is worse at undesignated locations where motorists usually improvise, […]

At designated bus stops within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), law enforcement agents and men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) always engage motorists in a chase.  Motorists park indiscriminately, sometimes they park right on the road to either pick or drop passengers.

The situation is worse at undesignated locations where motorists usually improvise, ostensibly for want of parking lots thereby creating heavy traffic jams and rowdiness in the city centre.

More often than not, the FRSC and police officers help clear, impound or tow vehicles that are parked at undesignated locations within the capital city. But motorists complain that there are no parking spaces to use.

Vincent Okoro, a motorist said, “My three years of staying in Abuja has been a living hell, several times I had to use commercial buses because of this problem of parking space.” He said that he cannot pay money to  FRSC if his car is found on the road, pointing out that it was easier for him to use commercial buses or taxis so that he would be able to get to his destination on time.

The timing is not the only important issue but this is another avenue for vehicles to be stolen  irrespective of the kind of car. Jobless individuals will want to make a living by all means necessary.

Yvonne Eleko who works with a non governmental organisation  told Sunday Trust her experience about her Honda  car that was stolen  at Banex Plaza area a year ago. She said, “ It was a painful experience because  I bought that car the same year it was stolen. I entered one of the shops to purchase a gift for my friend’s wedding. It was  a problem  before I even got a space to park . I was not satisfied with that space but I used it, not knowing it was going to cost me my car. I will advice that space should be created for car parks and security for life and property should be looked into to ensure that there is safety in this town”, she lamented.

 Funmibi Olawoyin, an inspector commander in the FRSC, said in the past two years, there has been increase in the number of cars that have entered Abuja due to the demolition of both residential and commercial buildings.  As such,individuals have moved to satellite towns where they can afford shelter and involve in transactions.

“We realised that there is no parking space in Abuja due to that development, so we advised that they should park their cars in the peripheral areas like Kubwa, Maraba, etc then they can come in and do their business. At the Central Business District, there is a commercial parking lot where you can park your car and pay, then after office hours, you come and get your car. It will be better to open a parking space where people can come and park their cars.

“If we get to see your vehicle on the street, we tow it to our office and you pay a certain amount of money before we release it to you. We have gone on air several times telling people not to park their cars where they see “no parking”.  I urge the government to look into this matter so that there will be space for parking in Abuja. The accident on the roads have not been frequent because we pack them whenever we see them on the street,” he explained.

Sini Titsi Kwabe, FCT Coordinator, Special Marshal, said the issue of drivers parking recklessly is an attitudunal problem because when some people travel outside this country, they obey the rules and regulations of that country, “Meanwhile, in our country, we are the defaulters.  We should stop parking carelessly so that we can avoid accidents and road blocks,” he added.

Wilson O. Unogwu, Deputy Director, Mass Transit in the Federal Capital Territory Administration(FCTA), said the agency had suggested parking lots to the policy of development control department and it had been enforced. However, he added  that  residential buildings that were turned into commercial buildings, had  increased the  problem  of lack of parking lots.

 “It will be better to obey the planning standard of the development control so that this problem will be avoided,” he urged.

Yahaya Musa, Director of Development Control (FCTA) said most of the parking problems are created by people who are supposed to leave enough space in residential areas for it. In shopping malls and plazas and other commercial outlets, some got approval for parking space and others did not get.

“Presently, any building we are going to approve must meet the parking requirement, but the improvement brought by the enforcement of parking lots in new developments can only be seen in years ahead when those developments are completed,” he said.

According to  Musa,  some agencies had shown interest in wanting to develop some multinational car parks, like the one  in Area 10,  but they have been dragging their feet because they do not know the economic viability, stating  that the Abuja investment company was already addressing that issue and  if these multi level car parks were there, it would surely solve the problem of parking spaces.

“The standard requirement for parking lot in residential buildings is two parking lots per family while in commercial buildings the full space differ in sizes, standard and the plot requirement is 75square perimeter to determine the parking lots.

I believe if these standards are obeyed, it will be easy for us to have a complete building without having parking lot problems,” he said.