Subsidy: People No Longer Travel, Prefer Sending Goods To Families – NURTW

The leadership of the Kaduna State branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers has lamented a sharp decrease in the number of travellers in the state due to the high cost of transportation fares.

The Union leaders said the number of travellers has reduced by over 50 per cent as the Yuletide approaches.

The state NUTRW Secretary, Malam Bature Suleiman, who disclosed this on Friday in an interview with newsmen, said the high cost of transportation fare was occasioned by the increment in fuel pump price.

He said, “People no longer travel but only prefer to send messages to their loved ones. Sadly, if you go to our motor parks now, you will see a lot of vehicles waiting without passengers.

“People don’t have money to travel until it becomes necessary; they prefer to waybill messages.”

He added that commercial motorists were running at a loss due to the poor economic situation of the country, adding, “Apart from the increase of fuel price, we have a lot of bad roads, and a lot of policies taken on the transportation sector are not favourable.”

The official lamented alleged multiple taxes which members of the union had been paying, describing the situation as very bad.

He said, “There are lots of revenues attached to transportation as the government now seems to have its focus on the sector. Currently, there is an increment so much that what the driver would get at the end of the day is nothing to write home about. Drivers would just be doing the work without any gain in it.”