News

Katsina residents lament not benefitting from FG transport palliative

Published by Fakinlede Tope John on December 27th, 2023.

Katsina residents lament not benefitting from FG transport palliative

Arewa PUNCH findings have revealed that the residents of Katsina State did not benefit from the Federal Government’s 50 per cent slash directive on interstate transport fare during the Christmas.

As of the Tuesday holiday, not a few of the residents who spoke with our correspondent affirmed to have enjoyed the price slash.

Visits to various motor parks within the Katsina metropolis on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday showed that inter state commercial vehicle operators did not comply to the directive nor implemented the same.

Major interstate commercial vehicle operators, including members of the National Union of Roads Transport Workers and their counterparts at the National Association of Transport Owners, claimed ignorance of the Federal Government’s directive on the transportation fare slash.

They also stressed that their leaders did not communicate to them on any directive in that regard.

Members of the two unions whom Arewa PUNCH met at the NURTW New Garage, Kofar Marusa, Jibia Motor park, and at the NATO garage in the state insisted that they had not seen any circular on the directive.

A NURTW official who pleaded for anonymity at the union office in New Garage, declared, “You can go around our garage, there is no circular on that and our leaders have not briefed us on the fare slash as they have not received any circular relating to that.”

Also, a NATO official at the union garage opposite the state fire service headquarters who also pleaded for anonymity insisted that, “Nobody has told us anything on the interstate transport fare slash. We shall abide whenever we see a circular on that or when our leaders brief us.”

Meanwhile, our correspondent learnt that in spite of the very high transportation fares from Katsina State to other parts of the country, many travellers still stormed the different parks, eager to take advantage of the Christmas holidays to visit their loved ones.

Arewa PUNCH also observed many residents trooping to the state-owned transport company motor park and the NURTW as well as the NATO garages from where they boarded the various vehicles to their destination points for the Yuletide.

The travellers, while condemning the high cost of transport fares, berated the government for not extending the dividends of the palliatives from the fuel subsidy removal to the state.

However, in spite of the harsh economic realities, many of them gave kudos to the interstate transport operators for not reviewing upward their fares during the Christmas period as Lagos bound buses from Katsina, Kaduna bound buses and Abuja bound buses still charged the old rates of N18,000; N6,000 and N 10,500 respectively for the trips.

A commuter, Mrs Hilda Augustine, who was travelling to Abuja on Tuesday to celebrate the new year with her family, said, “I paid N10,500 for my trip to Abuja. It was the same fare I paid last July when I travelled to Abuja.”

The Katsina NURTW Chairman, Abubakar Musa, was said to be out of the state when Arewa PUNCH visited his office, just as he did not also pick calls initiated to his GSM line.

As of press time, Musa had equally not replied to the SMS sent to him on the issue.

Our intensified efforts to get other members of the executives of the two unions to speak proved futile as none was ready to speak openly on the issue.