Transporters, Travellers Decry Hardship Over Forced Motor Park Relocation

Transporters and travellers have expressed concerns over the recent relocation of all motor parks within Yenagoa to the newly constructed state transport terminal in Igbogene by the Bayelsa State Ministry of Transport.

Many commuters lamented the added stress and inconvenience of paying double transportation fare before arriving at their destinations from the state transport terminal, describing the situation as deeply troubling.

According to an official of Peace Mass Transit who spoke anonymously, the state government’s initiative was commendable, but the timing is less than ideal considering it falls during the festive season.

He said, “The idea of the state government is quite laudable but on another ground the time was actually not perfect owing to the fact that this is a festive season. Most people will want to travel, imagine someone staying at Swali wants to go to Port Harcourt, you have to pay almost a thousand naira for Keke to take you to Igbogene to enter a vehicle.

It is quite a big challenge especially to the poor masses.

“For those that run private transport businesses, it is also going to be an issue telling them to leave their private parks where they pay huge amount of money to develop and also pay taxes to government and take all their vehicles to Igbohene which is purely a government owned park.

“In as much as government wants that place to be functional, we could as well continue running the private parks and also having our own stand at the government park so that both of them can be running in para passe pending when that place will settle well.”

Some of the travellers who spoke to LEADERSHIP at various motor parks in Yenagoa criticised the Ministry of Transport for what they perceived as a lack of consideration for their plight.

They argued that the government’s enforcement of the relocation of all motor parks disrupted travel plans and caused unnecessary hardship to state residents.

Precious Iwari, who arrived on Monday from the East with her three children after the festive period, said that she paid N18,000 from Owerri to Yenagoa, adding that she spent N1,500 on Keke from the state transport terminal at Igbogene to Swali.

Another commuter, Douye Wikimor, noted that the relocation was a misplaced priority and a complete miscalculation on the part of the state Ministry of Transport, adding that other commuters like himself will have to pay double transportation fares before arriving at their destinations.

The president of the Federal University Otuoke Students Union, Comrade Azubike Ekene, said the relocation would cause a lot of inconvenience and pain to the students of not only the university but also that of Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Amassoma.

According to Ekene, the policy is not bad, especially when viewed against the backdrop of sanitising and decongesting the motor parks within Yenagoa and its environs. However, he said the execution of the policy is ill-timed, as the planners did not take into consideration the plight of students in the state.