Recent ‘Operation Restore Order’ launched and jointly undertaken by operational and traffic divisions of the Sierra Leone Police is being outsmarted by unruly drivers plying the roads, especially from Waterloo to central Freetown, by violating road traffic rules and regulations with ‘half ways’ overloads of passengers and hike in fares being imposed on passengers everywhere one visit.
Hike in public transport fare are being blamed on the rise of prices of essential commodities as vegetable amongst others coming from the provinces, due to alleged ‘extortions’ by police and Sierra Leone Road Safety officers-traffic wardens at every stops of the roads, leading to skyrocketing of prices of food stuffs and essential commodities in Freetown and other parts of the country. A thing ‘Operation Restore Order’ was also expected to have handled by now yet the tricks continues unabated with impunity at the detriments of vulnerable commuters.
The exercise was initiated to regulate unruly commercial vehicles drivers who are badly dealing with commuters from Waterloo to Freetown and other major cities in the country.
From Waterloo, drivers are expected to take passengers to Bombay Street at the right destination, but hardly reach there and end up dropping then half way and asked them to pay more than the required fares.
These are the problems Operation Restore Order actually came in to solve but it appears as if there are still tough times ahead as drivers plying Freetown Waterloo route are violating the orders of the police. And sadly for the people, Operation Restore Order’ could not restore hopes in passengers, with the effort failing woefully to ameliorate the massive sufferings of commuters for public transportation across the city and its surrounding communities.
People traveling from east and west to the centre of Freetown are being constantly overcharged by motorists, tricycle and motorbike riders to pay more than the normal fares, far above the exact prices stated by the line Ministry of Transport and Aviation as if there are no regulators on the road for commercial vehicle drivers and other road users.
Initially, ‘Operation Restore Order’ made few arrests of commercial drivers and charged to court for violating orders putting in place by the operation-dropping passengers ‘half way’ of their destinations, overloading, hike in fares continue by mini-vans and taxi drivers taking huge advantages against commuters due to the lack of public transport service.
Such facilities are expected to be legitimately provided the Sierra Leone Roads Transport Cooperation as part of its functions. A body charged with the task of providing public transportation for commuters traveling to and from the provinces and in major cities. Yet there are no signs of town service transport shuttles to convey commuters from one point to the other.
Rather, all SLRTC buses are running to the provinces, with some regional headquarters as Bo, Kenema always receiving two to three busses per day whiles people in Freetown and other parts continue to perish for public transports. That is unfair on the part of the cooperation as all commuters are entitled to such facilities that are procured out of tax payers’ moneys.
Besides, apart from what we always blame commercial drivers for maltreating commuters for with half ways and hike in fares, we must as well take the public transport service provider for failing to offer town service facilities to save passengers from suffering for transport from Waterloo to Freetown. For the private sector players are only taking advantage of such situations because of the bad attitude of the public service provider towards commuters, whose tax payers moneys are being utilized to secure such service and end up suffering for them.
Has there been adequate SLRTC busses plying the routes from Waterloo to Falcon Bridge on Wallace Johnson Street at the city centre, there would be no need for commercial van drivers to be taking advantage of the situation against commuters. But they private sector players whose maxims are aimed at profits making, are always doing their tricks at the detriments of passengers because they know that no matter how robust police operations are they will never win the battle of regulating drivers. So the Government agency, SLRTC must up its game now going forward if we are to call things by their right names to rise up to the occasion and start making adequate provisions of public transport-town and inter-city services for commuters, rather than police always engaging drivers in operations to restore order.
The commercial vehicle owners and their drivers are not doing business to run at lost but to make profits, which the police are fully aware. Drivers have their own sides of the coin always encountering with the police and traffic wardens – extortions amongst several other complains they always make to passengers whenever they are justifying reasons for over charging them high fares and ‘half way’ drop off. Much of such reasons it will be very difficult for the police to regulate drivers of commercial vehicles on hike fares and ‘half way.’
In a situation where there are sufficient busses offering town and city-services from Falcon Bridge to Waterloo and to Lumley and beyond there will be no cry by commuters for it will automatically get rid of such problems and by extension put most of the unruly drivers out of job provided SLRTC make adequate provisions of busses for town and city services.
Such measure will as well help to drastically bring down cost of vegetables and other essential commodities coming in from the provinces. And at the end they blames and credits goes to Government for wiping the tears of commuters who have been crying for a very long years for public transports. It will also help the law enforcers of roads traffic regulations and save them from overburden themselves with the tasks of chasing drivers everywhere and save the reputation of the police and the road safety officers from the scandals of extortions alleged by unruly drivers.
