The Edo State Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA) says no fewer than 400 traffic personnel will be deployed in Benin metropolis to ensure smooth flow of traffic during the National Sports Festival (NSF).
They will also be involved in rescue and emergency operations as well as assist visitors navigate their way during the event.
Mr Dennis Oloriegbe, the Managing Director of the agency, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Thursday.
NAN reports that the 19th NSF tagged “Edo 2020”, is scheduled to commence on April 4 and end on April 14, 2021.
A total of 8,000 athletes who are expected for the nation’s biggest sports fiesta, would start arriving in Edo from Friday. The festival’s opening ceremony is fixed for Tuesday, April 6, 2021.
According to Oloriegbe, while EDSTMA will deploy 200 of its staff for the operation, the balance figure are adhoc staff engaged for the purpose of the festival.
He said that the agency had commenced the installation of directional, parking and identification signages across the metropolis for the purpose of the festival.
“If you move across the city this morning, you will see that we have started fixing directional signages, parking signages and identification signages.
“We also started training of adhoc staff who have been engaged to complement the 200 we will be deploying because the crowd will be massive.
“We are working to ensure free flow of traffic during the festival; parking will be banned in some areas in the city.
“We are setting up information centers that will give visitors directions during the festival, just as we have also set up rescue and emergency team that will attend to any issue of emergency,” he stated.
Oloriegbe, however, noted that in spite of the concentration of its personnel within and around venues of the festival, other parts of the city would be neglected.
“We are not collapsing our operations in other parts of the state,” he assured.