Secretary of Federal Capital Territory Transport Secretariat Engr. Jonathan Ivoke has said that the secretariat is working towards putting in place driver training and education as part of measures to check the rate of road accidents in the territory.

The secretary who disclosed this at a recent parley with newsmen in his office said that this had become necessary upon the realisation that the way drivers are licensed does not connect with training, adding that many accidents that occur in the city are due to careless mistakes of the drivers.

"We are looking at the issue of driver training and education because of the peculiar behavior displayed by many drivers on our roads. The way people are licensed does not connect to training so we want to make sure that we come into this area and ensure we license driving schools that are of standard. Most of the accidents that occur in the city are due to careless mistakes of drivers and this should not be the case." He said.

On the issue of vehicle parks within the city, Engr. Ivoke lamented that the parks in the city were not presently developed to a level befitting the status of a city like Abuja.

He however noted that the parks were in a state that they could be used, adding that "we want to make sure that the kind of development we want to see in parks is achieved.

"We visited some of these parks and we are encouraging the private sector to come in and partner with us in the development of the parks because we cannot continue to harass drivers when we don't have parks to accommodate them."

While answering questions on the state of street and traffic lights within the city, he explained that the FCT as it were was presently making use of two kinds of street lights, the old technology traffic lights which were installed around 1983 and the ones of a new and higher technology which installation was currently ongoing.

"We have the old ones and also have the new ones, the Light Emitting Diode (LED) which are about to be completed and will soon be commissioned. We are also trying to improve the old ones to the LED technology with additional solar backup so that we can guarantee continuous power supply, so that they can function optimally and ensure the safety of motorists in the city." He said.