Residents of the FCT have sought more enlightenment on the park-and-pay policy introduced by the FCT Administration.
City & Crime reports that the policy, which is emmeshed in controversy, is being implemented by two consultants.
The residents said they were not properly educated before the commencement of the policy, with many decrying the manner with which the enforcement is being carried out.
A resident, Engineer Yusuf, whose car was impounded on Augustus Aikhomu Street in Utako on Thursday, said the exercise was an embarrassment, adding that proper notification was not carried out.
He said, “I parked in front of an organisation with no sign of park and pay. When I came out, I met my car locked, and when I asked, they told me to pay for parking; or what purpose?
“If you want to embark on this kind of job, you have to notify the public through awareness.”
Another resident described the action as unjust, and called on the FCTA to carry out sensitisation before embarking on the exercise.
He said, “Things are really hard in the country; subjecting me to pay for a fine for an offence I did not commit is like daylight robbery. How will you just wake up and start arresting people’s car and expect us to keep quiet. Until proper steps are followed, things like this cannot stand.”
He added that, “The policy is causing unnecessary hardship for citizens, and the enforcement is more like extortion than a legitimate revenue-generating measure.”
When City & Crime visited NAJEC Limited’s office, one of the consultants implementing the policy, the Managing Director (MD), Mr Nebolisa Igboka, said due process was followed on the policy before the enforcement.
He said, “We have served all the occupants of the streets where the enforcement is taking place a notice of the street park-and-pay and it was acknowledged.”
Some of the streets affected by the exercise are Mafemi Crescent and Augustus Aikhomu, all in Utako District.
