Joseph G. Bangali – Snr. Reporter.
It is widely believed that one of the reasons we lag behind as a country in terms of service delivery of basic necessities is our inability to match and upgrade our facilities in line with population growth and the rapid expansion of our metropolis.
One major area that deserves serious consideration is that of public transportation especially in the capital city, Freetown. Daily commuting has become a daily nightmare for residents of this rapidly growing and expansive city. Even though the Sierra Leone Road Transport Corporation was established over 50 years ago, there has not been any significant investment in public transportation which has resulted in the high influx of privately owned commercial buses as well as mini buses, taxis and recently motorbikes and the now infamous tricycle commonly known as ‘kekes’.
What has also seriously hampered the transportation industry is the unavailability of commuter parks within the city. Minibuses and even large buses have to use some major roads as well as side streets to pick up and disembark passengers. As a result there is no strict adherence to destination guides and prices proffered by the government. To a large extent commuting in the East end of Freetown especially to Waterloo and Grafton is so much more hazardous and frustrating due to the fact that drivers and their mates charge unreasonable amounts for short distances along the Freetown- Waterloo route. Both morning and evening rush hours are used to massively exploit people by asking them to pay over and above what they normally should pay.
When quizzed about their reasons for such gross disregard for government regulations and prices, the reasons given are pretty much the same and these range from too much Police harassment, reduction in the number of passengers in their vehicles and cost of fuel. However, what is glaringly clear is that there is an acute need for a major investment in this sector as this would definitely address the large amount of man hours wasted on such short commutes. With the recent conversion of the road transport corporation to the Sierra Leone Public Transport Authority it is sincerely hoped that this dreadful menace in our society would soon be a thing of the past.
We shall in subsequent editions be engaging the ministry of transport and aviation, Freetown city council and the Western Rural District council, the motor drivers’ union, the Police as well as the road safety authorities.