Africa news
“By new year we shall be using the new buses brought by the government,” remarked a business man who stays in a town on the outskirts of the capital Freetown.
His comment was supported by another passenger to the capital on Friday last week.
A group of passengers were so eager to see the new buses on operation as they wish they be distributed by government by early next year.
They hopefully said that the new buses amounting to about fifty-two will be made public by January.
And if so, these buses would ease the transport struggles among travelers between Freetown and its outskirts and the provinces.
Their conversations around the possibility to seeing the distribution of public transport vehicles be shared for those in the east, west, north and south was influenced by their daily struggles in the capital to catch up vehicles.
On daily hours in the morning, afternoon and in the evening, there are many people who are struggling a lot at some bus stops or transport take off points in the capital.
This is because commercial and pubic vehicles are not as many as in other countries’ capitals in the world where trains are still being used as alternative for public transport.
A good example is South Africa, Egypt, Libya, Botswana, etc. where trains are still being used by citizens to convey to their destinations.
Sierra Leone had long kicked out train public transport use moving between the city and the provinces.
The few private vehicles in the country and the high cost on the charges to take one from one point to another are deep challenges fraught with by Sierra Leoneans on roads vehicular take off points.
Not only fuel is sold at a higher cost in the county, but also rice which is the staple food for Sierra Leoneans has been made ever expensive too to afford by an average Sierra Leonean.
Most Sierra Leoneans are fumed to hear of government’s decision to propose an additional five per cent increase as import duty tax on rice commodity and a twenty per cent on cement against next year, starting from January.
“We are going to suffer next year than we are suffering now if government doesn’t re-think its decision by reducing the proposed taxes on rice and on cement,” says a teacher in a school at Kissy in east of Freetown.
He spoke on a Monday 18 December, 2023 as he fears that with less than just two weeks to knock the new year government is bound to effect the tariff on rice, roughly making a bag of rice to be sold Le 1 million by January than it is currently sold at the time he was speaking at Le 700,000.