The FCT Minister, Sen Bala Mohammed, said on Thursday in Abuja that vehicle owners within the city would henceforth pay a minimum fee of N50 for parking.

The minister, while speaking at the launch of the test-run of controlled parking space in the FCT, said the move was aimed at checking traffic congestion in the city.

 He said the scheme would take off next week with all the 5000-marked-parking-bays on the city’s streets attracting a minimum charge of N50 per hour.

“This will be N650 for per day, while defaulters are to pay N5,000 for wrong parking on flower beds and walkways,’’ the minister said.

“It will also assist in inculcating best practices in road-usage,” Mohammed who was represented by the Director Mass Transport in the FCT Transport Secretariat, Mr Wilson Unogwu, said.

Mohammed said the project would be executed by two private companies, Integrated Parking System and Platinum Parking Management Service.

He said the two companies were the ones the monetized parking space have been concessioned to.

Chief Operating Officer of Integrated Parking System, Umar Kaltungu, assured that sufficient revenue would be generated from the project.

He said an electronic swipe card pre-loaded with N500 would be purchased by drivers to enable them make payments at Point-of-Sale terminals (POS)