SINCE the beginning of this year, one of the main complaints of the public is the bus service especially for people going to and from work. It is now normal to expect that if you are at the bus stops you will probably wait for a bus for not less than 45 minutes. The problem is more evident in the early morning for workers starting earlier than 8 am for example teachers since they have to be at school by 7.30 am. So far amidst all the various promises of making things better for the general public, SPTC has been more or less quiet on the issue.
It was no better in December to January which was suppose to be holiday time for school children. One expected to at least have a temporary respite but there was little change and when the schools are in full swing and all post-secondary schools having started their school year, the problem becomes a nightmare for most using the public transport system as provided by SPTC. In places where there are bus shelters some people have at least the chance to sit and patiently wait for a bus but for others, the waiting goes hand in hand with standing. And the nightmare is compounded further when the weather conditions changes into heavy winds and heavy rains.
What the public would like to know is how long is this situation going to last? Being stressed out in the early morning due to being late to work because there are no buses is hardly helping workers. The more stressed they are the less productive they will be and come the end of the year; our economy will be in a bigger mess. For this we have the people running the SPTC to thank. The school children are no better off, some of them are arriving late to school after having waited for long hours and this reduces their ability to stay focus in class. As a consequence poor results at the end of the school year are common.
It is becoming more obvious that SPTC cannot cater for each and every-one. If that is the case, having another parallel private bus service is another option because many people will not mind paying a little more just to be on time to wherever they want to go. So this should be given great consideration before things become worse. “Pou lanmour Sesel!”