Battling escalating transport fares: Sim gets mass transit buses ready for the long haul
By Jonas Happy
Inside of one of the new buses procured by the Rivers State Government under its new transport sector initiative.Rivers people, particularly children of school age, civil servants, senior citizens and others who commune within the State would in the next 24 hours start enjoying smooth rides in newly acquired mass transit buses.
These buses painted in Rivers colours, according to information emanating from the Transport Ministry, are to be deployed to several bus routes within the metropolis.
The State powered mass transit buses are part of the ongoing effort by the Rivers Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy on the free movement of most Rivers citizens.
The blue coloured buses which are expected to form the nucleus of the fleet of modern buses that would try as from Tuesday to reduce the level of human misery on Rivers roadsAcross the country, inflation has recorded a giant leap, a situation that is taking away more of what is left in individual hands as savings and gradually creating more complications for ordinary families, small businesses and organisations.
The consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, rose to 22.04 percent in March 2023, up from 21.91 percent in the previous month, according to one report.
In Rivers State, nerve centre of the hydrocarbon industry, the pinch is increasingly felt by the poor families whose members live close to, or exist below the poverty line.
These families who have over the years sat at the receiving end of changes caused by the interplay of market forces unleashed by economic realities in a world that they do not ccontrol watch helplessly as the gap between the rich and the poor in their own country widens.
And markets around them, affected by the new policy trend, react to innovations that the Tinubu team has clearly set in motion.
Transport fares driven by the new price regime introduced in the petroleum sector have soared in Rivers. So has the cost of cooking gas.
Foodstuff such as garri, rice, beans, yam, fish, stockfish, beef, prewinkles, tomatoes, egusi, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables have nearly doubled in price.
Building materials required to construct new housing units such as roofing sheets, rods, cement, cables, nails, pipes, electric sockets, sand, concrete, paint and other sundry procurements that are similarly essential have skyrocketed.
The same is true of the cost of paper, rollers, blankets, ink and bearings relied on in the printing industry which is equally threatening the future of newspapers and book publishers in the State.
Rear view of one of the buses which will ply commercial routes in the Rivers capital, Port Harcourt as from Tuesday.
Fubara, an accountant who as state governor is keeping a wary eye on the situation had announced not too long ago that he would intervene in the transport sector.
It is the first significant palliative designed by the State to ensure that citizens who are carrying quite a lot of weight at this time pay a little less on transportation.
Tuesday, the Ministry of Transport will be unveiling a fleet of mass transit buses in Port Harcourt.
A brief ceremony, an official statement issued by the State Commissioner for Transport, Jacobson Nbina has revealed, will take place at the Waterlines premises of the Rivers Transport Company.
It is not yet known if the Rivers Governor would stage an appearance at the venue, or if he has mandated Nbina, a cat with nine lives, whose ministry is overseeing government’s investment in the transport sector to preside over the historic launch.
Somehow, there are strong expectations that the new buses would help ease the burden that commuters are currently facing.
There are equally worries that the new buses may become overloaded and uncomfortable to use if strict rules regulating public behaviour are not quickly introduced.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara … a promise made, a promise fulfilled after a few weeks of his administration’s inauguration.
Will Governor Fubara acquire more buses to move more persons? Will Rivers State aspire to be like Lagos State which is presently operating RBT buses? Will the State Transport Ministry attempt to time the movement of the buses? Will it place the kind of structural facilities that will ensure the sustenance of the bus service?
These may be some of the issues that the government might address on Tuesday when it steps into the ring to confront the challenge posed by recent prices hikes, especially in the transport sector.