Ben Murray-Bruce (pictured), Chairman of Silverbird Television, has argued that Nigeria’s Federal Government should use savings from removing the fuel subsidy regime to invest in transport. Speaking at a town hall meeting in Lagos, Murray-Bruce said that $2bn should be invested in the sector over the next five years as a condition of deregulating the downstream sector.
At the meeting, organised by the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, Murray-Bruce also said that money saved from subsidising fuel should be used to buy energy-efficient buses and taxis. “The Standards Organisation of Nigeria should make it a policy that only vehicles that are energy-efficient can come into Nigeria. We also ask that energy-efficient vehicles should be brought into Nigeria duty-free, so that the average person can buy these vehicles,” he added.
“The government must give us hope by providing a $500 million intervention fund for the transport sector. We want another $500 million to subsidise those going by bus,” said Murray Bruce. “We want another $500 million for infrastructure, such as bus stops. Then, finally, we want another $500 million for the trucks, instead of these broken down trucks that destroy all our roads, making it impossible for us to get to places we want to be.
“In all, we want $2 billion every year for the next five years. Now, we make a deal; if you want to remove subsidy, go ahead and remove it but this is what you must do. You must subsidise the transport sector 100 per cent,” he said.
PetrolWorld 28122011
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