The commencement of a new transport
scheme which pushed out mini-buses from Abuja city centre yesterday took
off on a chaotic note.
The FCT administration promised to
deploy 300 high capacity buses yesterday, but by early morning only a
few of the buses were on location.
This worsened the early morning rush,
leaving commuters stranded for hours and subsequently reporting to
office or places of business late
Abubakar Mohammed, a fish seller close
to Dutse-Alhaji junction, said usually he made his supplies to Utako
and Life Camp markets as early as 7am. “But today I have been standing
at the bus stop along Kubwa expressway for over an hour, only one
el-Rufai bus came and it was full.”
Bisi Joseph, a teacher at a private
school in Maitama, said there was no bus to board since 7am until a good
Samaritan came along gave her and others a lift to Tipper garage from
where she boarded a taxi to work.
Protesters dispersed
There was palpable tension and anger
amongst commuters in Abuja at the Mararaba bus stop where some of the
transporters early in the morning staged a protest but they were
quickly dispersed by security operatives.
Many of the commuters, who were caught
up in the protest expressed dissatisfaction with the policy, saying
that it had further added to their suffering.
Investigations also revealed that transport fares rose by about 50 to 70 percent in some parts of the suburbs.
A commuter, Ola David, blamed the government for being too harsh in its decision to ban the mini buses.
Commuters stranded
“I am a site engineer at Apo. I used
to leave my house early in the morning but see me here waiting for
vehicle at 10 o’clock”, he lamented.
Malam Hafiyu Abdul, another commuter, decried the situation, saying the government was ‘insensitive.’
An elderly woman was seen weeping for failing to meet her early morning schedule at Dei Dei.
Cynthia Oti, a commuter expressed her
frustration on the fact that she had been waiting for an hour to get a
bus to Kubwa unsuccessfully.
Ibrahim Salisu, a Mpape resident
explained that his family had been stranded at the bus stop for over an
hour waiting for a bus to take them to their destination.
‘’I am calling on the government to be lenient with the masses and bring back the mini buses,” he added.
A group of drivers and their conductors told reporters that with this ban, the government has cut off their means of livelihood.
‘’‘We bought these buses ourselves but government wants to force us into the unemployment market, “a driver, Jeremiah lamented.
Private car owners could be seen making brisk business conveying commuter to parts of the metropolis for token fares.
However, Tunde Akintola, Marketing and
Communication Manager of the Abuja Urban Mass Transportation Company,
AUMTCO, one of the bus companies permitted to operate in the city
centre, assured that they had enough buses to cater for the needs of FCT
residents. He said the company was still monitoring the situation in
the hope of addressing the lapses encountered yesterday.
Our correspondent who was at the
Federal Secretariat’s ever busy bus stop at the close of the office
hours reported that passengers had to struggle to enter the buses that
were available after long delays in the scorching sun.
Speaking to Daily Trust, Mr Olawale
Lawanson said inasmuch as he agreed with the policy to give the city
centre some measure of sanity in the transportation system, the
government should put in place palliative measures that will ease the
difficulties the masses are encountering with its introduction.
“If the government had provided enough
vehicles or a functional rail system you would not see this chaotic
scene here. This is where they are getting it wrong, they have to also
do more about the road, if you look at the road from AYA to Mararaba it
is not wide enough,” Lawason a public servant said.
Increase in fares
Another commuter, Mr Victor Obi, said
“it is good but from what we are seeing now, people are suffering. I
will appeal to the government to improve on what they have on ground
now. They have to increase the number of vehicles. I know what they are
doing is to favour us but they should also ensure the transport fare is
controlled because some of this transporters are having field day with
arbitrary increase in fares. I normally spend N100 from Mararaba to town
but now I am forced to pay N200, the buses should go as far as my
place.”
Olakunle Ibrahim on his part said,
“this development would have been a very welcomed one, theoretically it
is a very sound one but practically it seems not to be okay. The
government’s intent to make Abuja a decent city is a good one but the
situation of the people now is very bad, the only way we could suggest
if they will listen, is that they should provide more of the buses and
see how they can reach the people in the remote side.”
Not enough buses
Although there were a good number of
the buses going to places like Mararaba, Berger, Gwarinpa, Dutse and
Kubwa from Area 1, other routes such as Gwagwalada and Suleja remained
deserted by most mass transit buses.
Some passengers complained to have
spent about three hours waiting for the buses that would head to either
Gwagwalada or Suleja, but to no avail.
The restriction of the mini-buses to
feeder routes outside city limits was delayed from August 1, 2012
following increasing criticism from bus operators in Abuja.
Secretary, FCT Transport Secretariat,
Engr. Jonathan Ivoke, said henceforth mini buses will only operate on
specified feeder routes within the FCT and they are free to operate in
the satellite towns.
He emphasized that their operations
would terminate at the various interchanges on the Kubwa axis, Yar’ Adua
expressway and Nyanya interchange where they are to feed the highway
with passengers for the high capacity buses to commute into the city.
‘Ban not to cause hardship’
FCT Minister, Sen. Bala Mohammed had said the ban on mini buses is not meant to cause hardship to commuters.
“We have over 700 high capacity buses
in the FCT, the Abuja Urban Mass Transit Company (AUMTCO) has about 300,
the NURTW has about 200, other licensed operators have about 200.
“But the mini buses will not allow
them to work seriously. You only work on the basis of profitability, you
will see the high capacity buses burning their gas without any
passenger because the mini bus people will not give them any breathing
space, and moreover they are reckless and undisciplined.
“So we want to get a minimal cavity of
monopoly for the high capacity buses and routes have been designated
for the mini buses and the high capacity buses, this will decongest the
traffic gridlock being experienced in the city,” the minister said.
Areas the mini buses are not allowed
to operate in the city include Wuse market to Eagle Square to Asokoro to
AYA to Nyanya, Area 3 junction to Tafawa Balewa to Herbert Marcaulay
Way to Berger junction to Jabi, Gudu market to Apo quarters to Ahmadu
Bello way to Federal Secretariat to Gwarinpa and AYA to Shehu Shagari to
Federal Secretariat to Transcorp Nicon junction.
FCTA had said that the aim of the
transportation policy was not to deny mini bus operators their means of
livelihood but to bring sanity to the transport system in the FCT,
stressing that the transportation fare has been reduced to ensure that
the policy did not bring untold hardship to residents
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This is a delibrate wicked policy of the government. This insensitivity of government on the plight of the poor massess clearly shows that we lack responsible and responsive government.
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