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Contrary to rumours being peddled around about the sacking of First BRT Cooperative from the Mile 12-CMS BRT Corridor in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, the Lagos State Government said the decision was taken as a result of the breaches of the BRT operations Service Level Agreement (SLA) the Cooperative Union signed with the State government despite years of discussions and engagement to ensure that the SLA was adhered to.
The 1st BRT Cooperative, which is run by the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW, Lagos State Council) , until the recent termination of the agreement, held the franchise to operate on the Mile 12 to CMS Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor.
The State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, who disclosed this during a meeting with the NURTW leadership in the State, said though the Service Level Agreement requires a one-month notice prior to its termination, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, custodian of the agreement, had indeed given a three-month notice which the operator failed to honour.
Mobereola maintained that the termination of the agreement was premised on the inability of the operator to offer good public transport services to commuters on the all-important BRT corridor thus leading to incessant complaints by members of the public over poor services provided by the operator and the deployment of vehicles not safe for use by the commuting public.
While explaining further that the Lagos State Government’s decision to terminate the existing franchise agreement was based on non-compliance of the 1st BRT cooperative with operational plans as stipulated in the franchise agreement signed, the Commissioner noted that the State Government also frowned at the non-operations of stipulated frequency schedules and operations of buses at below 50 per cent fleet capacity contrary to the agreement.
“The failure of 1st BRT Cooperative to comply with the terms of the franchise agreement has led to passengers experiencing poor service quality typified by extensive waiting time and having to endure use of dilapidated and unsafe buses”, the Commissioner said.
