Fuel shortage: No transport fare increase -NURTW
From Aliyu Muhammad, Gombe

Despite the persistent fuel scarcity in Gombe state, the branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), had stood firm not to effect any increase on transport fares.
The commercial drivers in Bauchi motor park of the motropolis ofted to park their vehicles than to operate in such an unfrindly circumtances, where they buy fuel at an exorbitant price and charge passengers at the normal rate.
Fielding question from Daily Triumph correspondent, the secretary of NURTW Bauchi motor park branch, Idris Okenne, said, the union vowed not to increase the transport fare. "However, this led many drivers to suspend services for the meantime, perhaps, untill when the supply of the petroleum products improves". He stressed.
According to him, commutters on their own wisdom sought the attention of the motorists, where they agreed on to increase a certain amount, as the can reason with the hike in the prices of the ptroleum product.
"This is the bond that kept the park alive , rather, it could have been a living ghost of itself, since, most of our people could have been in distress"., The secretary added.
Daily Triumph investigation gathered that the filling stations despensing are mostly independent marketers.
Sani Jatau a driver at the park, said as a result of the agreement reached, we now charge N1000 agaist N700 from Gombe to Yola while to Abuja it is N2000 now agaist N1600. "He continue to say, ``we are gladdened with this arrangement, the passengers can now travel andl through that the Drivers can mantain a half way revenue generation than to be otherwise" .
Moreso, at Gombeline Trasport Company, the story remains same, as there was a sharp increament on the trasport fare. From Gombe to Kano they charge N2200 as agaist N800, so it is in the case of Gombe to Maiduguri, before it was N500 but now it is N700.
Most of the drivers that spoke to Daily Triumph, appealed to the authority concerned to revisit the law that banned the fuel hawkers from the street, ``because when they were on business`` the hardship was not as severe as we are expreancing now: the drivers lamented.
``In our neighbouring states like Bauchi and Adamawa, where the hawking was not prohibited there is a kind of a sanity in fuel related matters, at every spot within the states you can get fuel and at reasonable price. Usman Galadima added.