Tuesday, 10 July 2012 00:00

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has said that it had begun implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage bill approved by Federal government to petroleum tanker drivers.
The Federal Government last year approved N18,000 minimum wage for workers in the country after the senate passed the Minimum Wage bill in February.

NARTO President, Alhaji Kassim Ibrahim Bataiya, while signing the agreement in Abuja, said the gesture was to boost the morale of the drivers in carrying out their assignments.
Bataiya said: “Petroleum Tankers’ Drivers are important partners to NARTO and their welfare is paramount to us.”
He said that the association had taken further steps to ensure that the improved working conditions for oil tanker drivers would guarantee effective distribution of petroleum products to all parts of the country.
According to him, there had been long peaceful relationship that existed between drivers and the association will continue to improve.

NARTO National Operations Coordinator, Alhaji Lawan Isa, said transport owners owe it a duty to respect government policy with regards to national minimum wage.
Isa said: “The agreement we signed today is much more than minimum wage, in some areas we increased to about 100 per cent. When people accuse our drivers of causing accidents and destroying our roads, they forgotten that going by roads standards worldwide, Nigerian roads are more or less improved pathways.”
He called on the Federal Government to urgently improve our roads in order to reduce the level of accidents and loss of lives.

The President of the Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD), Mr. Timothy Ogbu, expressed PTD’s appreciation for the implementation of the minimum wage and promise to continue the good working relationship with the transport owners.