Transportation remains a huge challenge
September 2, 2015 By Alusine Sesay
A survey undertaken by Concord Times has revealed that the struggle to access transportation in the capital city Freetown remains acute despite the procurement of 100 buses by the government.
People who responded to questions, especially pupils, demanded that the government provide more buses to ease transportation in the city.
Although 15 buses have been allocated to schools in the Western Area, pupils still struggle to access transportation, especially when schools are in session.
In a recent event organised by the Attitudinal and Behavioural Change Secretariat on the responsible use of school buses, Minister of Transport and Aviation, Leonard Balogun Koroma, said government was yet to launch the school bus service, but promised to do so very soon.
The minister also promised that more buses will be provided for schools across the country.
However, many respondents are of the opinion that it is quite a difficult task for government to tackle the transportation challenge in Freetown due to the high concentration of the country’s population in the city.
The challenge to access transportation in the city is not a new phenomenon, thus prompting government to procure 100 buses to ameliorate the plight of public transport users. It seems though that the problem is far from being solved as long queues could be seen during the rush hours, with thousands having to wait for hours to get on the buses.
“We need more buses because the ones available are not enough to solve the transportation problem. We are still finding it difficult to access transportation despite the provision of 100 buses by the government,” said Sallay Kamara.
While contributing to a debate in the Well of Parliament, Minority Leader Hon. Bernadette Lahai commended the government for being sensitive to the plight of the public, but noted that the 100 buses were not enough to curb the transportation challenge in the country.