Posted by 9jabook.com on January 18, 2010 at 7:02am
By Modey Peters
The desire of the Cross River State government to upgrade the operations of taxis in Calabar, the state capital, got a boost recently as one of the newly registered operators of the Calabar Urban Taxi Scheme, Pronto Cabs Limited, brought in 270 cars for the take-off of the programme.
Managing Director of the company, Kenneth Asim-Ittah said the company has spent N607m on the cars. He also said more cars and buses will be added to the fleet to ease commuters' suffering in the city.
The state government had, shortly after placing a ban on commercial motorcyclists in the city last year, provided 50 cabs to the Calabar Urban Taxi Drivers Union, to be given to former commercial motorcyclists who pay the initial deposit of N50,000.
Sad people
Most residents of Calabar are still unhappy with the ban, especially as the cars are not enough and the routes are still unevenly marked. Edem Inah, a student, said he and his mates have to walk miles to find taxi routes in order to get to their respective destinations.
"The replacement of Akalukes (motorcycles) with new air-conditioned cabs have failed to excite commuters because the taxi-cabs are not adequate and people have to trek long distances to get to work," said a civil servant, Atim Ujong.
Mr. Asim-Ittah, who spoke at the weekend in his office, said the ban on commercial motorcyclists has created a vacuum in the transport network of the metropolis.
"Following the appointment of Pronto Cabs Limited as one of the managers of the scheme", he said, "we entered into agreement with the state government and fund managers and the Calabar Bikemen Association (CBA) in ensuring the smooth and speedy implementation of the scheme."
Not the governor's business
He said arrangement has been made to ensure that the vehicles operate on designated routes in the state capital and for the purpose they are meant.
So far, 39 routes have been created with additional 52 taxi locations in the state capital. More routes will soon be announced by the relevant agencies.
The company does not however operate the buses directly. The vehicles, mostly Suzuki cars, are given out on procurement basis to four persons who operate a cooperative venture, upon an initial deposit and a daily payment of between N2000 to N3000 until a total of N2.5 million is finally paid, depending on the brand of the car.
"All vehicles in the fleet have been designated to specific routes with fleet numbers and are running shift to ensure effective 24 hours service," he said.
Asked about the allegations that the company belonged to the state governor,
Liyel Imoke, Mr Asim-Ittah said that was not true.
"This is a privately-owned company by indigenes of the state aimed at complementing government's efforts on public transportation in line with its tourism drive," he said.
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