By Ragan M Conteh
As pressure mounts on the tollgate saga, the Parliamentary Chairman of Works Committee in Parliament who doubles as the deputy leader of government business, Hon Bashiru Silikie, has informed stakeholders that “parliament has received the tollgate traffic data.”
According to Hon Silikie, they have received the data but parliament does not have right to process the data, he said.
He added that the only institution that has the prerequisite right to process data is the SLRA.
The chairman acknowledged that though he was part of the passing into law the CRSG agreement but it [ agreement] was not properly done.
He said majority of MPs in the fourth Parliament in 2017 voted and passed the agreement into law, forgetting of its consequences.
He revealed that he was very much concerned about the failure to create alternative routes.
He said since the agreement was passed in a rush, and today the SLRA is not taking full ownership of the project, adding that the document has no road map.
He admonished members from the CSOs, driver’s union and media that the purpose of the engagement is to have a road map of the review prices of the tollgate and what the people think parliament should do to come out with a perfect outcome.
He said the executive branch will soon bring the agreement into parliament for a thorough review of the entire document, adding that he recommended for sensitization on the said tariff increment.
Hon Bashiru Silikie further said that the road has so many benefits especially on traffic decongestion.
“When this agreement was about to be passed into law in Fourth Parliament, I raised serious issues then which we are grappling with today.”
“We opposed it but the then government did not listen to us. We succumbed at the end of the day but we are taking responsibility as parliamentarians. This now a law and we must find a way to handle it,” he asserted.
The MP further said the so-called increment on the tollgate awaits cabinet’s conclusion.
And, he went on, “we must have areas to ensure that the prices are discussed.”