By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
An operation to restore order in the transport sector is being threatened by drivers who conspire to undermine it in different ways.
Some have threatened to use their vehicles for other purposes instead of complying with an operation they see damaging to their trade.
A driver who spoke to this medium made it clear that their vehicles belong to them and not government.
They are convinced that as long as the vehicles belong to them, they are free to fix their prices, and ply where ever they want to.
The operation code-named ‘Operation Restore Order’ is meant to restore hope in commuters by ensuring that they are taken to the right destinations at the approved price.
The operation produced good results on the first day of commencement seen in the small number of commuters at some waiting points in the nation’s capital.
It launched last Monday and commenced on the same day.
Drivers especially those plying between Waterloo and Bombay are compelled by police officers to convey passengers to their right destinations.
The commuters were going to breathe a sigh of relief in their daily journeys.
But, drivers’ conspiracies seem to undermine police effort evidenced by a large number of commuters on the streets in the second day of the operation.
The presence of large crowds on the streets struggling for transportation defeats the purpose for which the operation was launched.
Most drivers who spoke to this medium confirmed that they are ready to turn their vehicles into delivery vans should the police coerce them to comply with the new measure.
‘Operation Restore Order’ seems to be a bitter pill to swallow for drivers have had a penchant for half-way driving over the years. The trade, to commuters is although exploitative, but profitable to the drivers who make heavy gains.
The operation, no doubt, will deprive them of the gains, and they are ready to boycott and undermine it come what may.
A driver, Ibrahim Kamara who plies between Waterloo and Bombay Park, east of Freetown tells Nightwatch that drivers would hardly comply with the new measure.
He pointed out traffic congestion as the main factor that scare drivers away from destinations they are supposed to take commuters.
“We want to go to far places in the city to take passengers to their destinations, but the traffic is disturbing us,” he said.
Kamara spoke about drivers’ stewardship in respect of the vehicles they drive. He said the hands of vehicle owners are always stretched to receive the money they make for the day.
“It will be a great problem if the right sum of money is not presented,” he complained.
As the operation is under threat of boycott, police officers seem determined to enforce it by means of all possible coercion at their disposal.
Officer Commanding Calaba Town Police Station, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fatoma says the operation is sanctioned by police high command and must be enforced.
“No driver would be spared in the operation as long it is meant to lessen the suffering of the people,” he said.
ASP Fatoma further explained that the police would partner with sister agencies, the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) to ensure compliance.
The Officer Commanding further explains that although the RSLAF are part of the operation, the police will ensure that they stay backwards until their intervention is necessary.
The police and drivers’ stances towards the operation are direct contraries. The former seem determined to enforce while the latter is poised to defy.
Prior to the launch of the operation, police officers have shown effort to halt the half-way which have become a way of life for drivers.
The police have most times used the law to arraign deviant drivers in the courts.
Records seen by Nightwatch in may this year indicate that over three drivers were charged to court for the half-way by the head of Traffic Unit at Shell Police post.
The Traffic head at the post was quite hopeful that continued police crackdown on deviant drivers would create a positive turn around.
But, realities still show that the transport sector has got a long way to go owing to lengthy years of negligence.
Traffic Wardens, SLRSA enforcement unit have, in diverse ways, bolstered police operations to sanitise the transport sector.
Tickets have been given to drivers as fines, vehicles clamped down as a form of restraint, but drivers have not been restrained.
Profiteering is their main aim and they are ready for it at all cost. But the law enforcers say they would stop it.
However, the transport sector in Sierra Leone is largely private-sector led. Private individuals own and operate vehicles at their own cost.
Suffice it to say they are at liberty to show prices for any destination they intend to reach. It is left with the customers to say otherwise.
Transport service is virtually inelastic as no substitute is available. One can either ride at the call of any price or leave it.
The inelasticity of the service has caused and fuelled commuters’ exploitation by drivers. Traffic laws have not stopped the exploitative tendencies of drivers as the law enforcers seem constrained in terms of human and material resources.
Motor Drivers and General Transport Workers Union, an umbrella body for drivers in Sierra Leone seem helpless.
The union lacks the capacity to stop drivers from embarking on the halfway method of running the transport service.
The union’s helplessness showcased when bus drivers embarked on a sit-down action when the number of passengers they should carry was reduced following the announcement of Covid-19 measures.
On several occasions, the union officials including Chief Driver, Alpha Turay have always condemned the exploitative actions of drivers.
Turay said the law frowned at half-way system as it constitutes a crime.
He assured of an end to such wickedness, few weeks back, when modalities would have been in place.
However, Turay blamed it on those commuters who, most times, willingly afford to pay money higher than the normal.
On the other side of the argument, commuters pay the bloated price out of the desire to reach their destinations as drivers seem very much united in the exploitation spree.