70-seater buses transformed into ‘highway
taxis’
 |
| Overloaded Vatican Bus 4365 of Sunday February 19-2017 |
It is now a common phenomenon in most
inter-urban travel agencies where drivers who ply the roads both by day and
night and in complicity with loaders commonly called ‘motorboys’ make several
stops along the highway to pick up extra passengers who will not be accounted
for in case of road accidents.
In
most of these vehicles some kitchen chairs are placed at the middle of the bus
to allow these extra passengers sit, some even sit on stairs of the vehicle no
matter the inconveniences caused by this practice.
Buses
with 70 places end up having 80 and even more. This reporter approached a ‘moto
boy’ who works for a travel agency whose name is withheld, he said what they
obtain from this practice is fully theirs.
This
phenomenon is practiced in almost all travel agencies especially those with 70
seats but on no occasion has security control question the drivers. Instead
with the over 20 stops from Bamenda to Douala or Buea, Gendarmes and Police on
duty are only interested in collecting money from drivers, they don’t even
approach the vehicle but wait for the ‘moto boy’ to hand them their usual 500
FCFA. Most of these vehicles run under high risk with over loading which could
lead to disaster in case of emergency. The
buses have been transformed into highway taxis, dropping and picking passengers
just like township taxis do.
A
journey usually undertaken for six hours sometimes take eight hours or more and
grumbling passengers have no option than grumble and stay
The National Security therefore has a
daunting task to check these overloaded Coasters that ply the national highways
but above all officials of travel agencies have to make a comprehensive follow
up drivers and punish defaulters.
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