Afukoh, and Lamigo Community Leaders Appeal Govt & Plateau Express Service To Consider Bus , Taxi Driver In Front of Old JUTH Fence

Yakubu Busari

The Jos  University Teaching Hospital,(JUTH)  Host Community of Jos North Local Government Council of Plateau State has made a passionate appeal to the Plateau State government, Plateau Express Service, and Jos Metropolitan Development Board, JMDB, to consider their plight and allow the Bus and Taxi drivers to operate in front of the temporary site of the Old JUTH for an easy mean of transportation patients.

Spokesperson of the Host Communities, Comrade Azi Peter Aware at the Old  JUTH Temporary site is appealing to the authorities to kindly take into consideration the challenges passengers plying to the new JUTH are going through with harsh economic realities.

He said those who are passengers to the new and old JUTH  include the sick ones, aged parents, and students so any attempt to move them in front of the Old JUTH might affect the health condition of these passengers.

Azi explained further that this morning, we are here at the temporary site of the JUTH addressing you Journalists with the union leaders from the bus drivers and the commercial vehicle owners as the host Communities of JUTH , Lamigo, and Fukoh.

He said that of recent government introduced a laudable program towards decongesting the city capital especially the terminus market and the community leaders appreciated the effort of the government for introducing measures to clean up the state.

Aware said , this is a giant strike an effort to ensure that there is sanity in the city to improve the transportation system which is now subsidized especially in this hardship that fuel is very costly and hike scarce and the transportation of the patients to assess medical attention is so dire.

We want to make a passionate appeal that the people operating here are commercial bus drivers between JUTH to Terminus, and Terminus to Jos they’re our members from Afukoh community host of JUTH.

“They have an organized task force and what happened here was during the time the Government handed over the structure for the orthopedic hospital was about to take up this year taxi driver, bus drivers were operating here in front of the Old JUTH fence but since the government wants to use the facility they were now moved right inside the Main Market of which they complied with that order as an organized and law-abiding citizens.

” They moved to the new allocation site and again, the government later reversed back to reallocate them to another space because they want to introduce metro buses and they shift them to operate where it poses a serious threat to their lives.

According to him,” When you carefully look at the caliber of passengers that they packed into JUTH Community to Lamigo most of them are sick people and aged parents so if there is no befitting parking space in front of Old JUTH it would be very difficult for them to operate smoothly.

“In assessment to the passengers pushing them far away from the present location might inflict pains and hardship also make it difficult for them to get vehicles to convey them because these are members of the same host Communities of JUTH. Practically they’re going to lose their way of income too,” he said.

Azi stressed that they are also family people who take responsibility for their households through this transport business, we are afraid that the two communities would automatically be at the receiving end.

“We are appealing to the government that since we allowed them to operate here in the past and now they are back here temporarily we beg the appropriate authority to consider their plight and that of patients traveling to the permanent site of JUTH to assess medical attention.

” These are people that are well organized and as leaders of host Communities we won’t allow un-ruling behavior, the community promised to continue to dialogue with the government and monitor the affairs of the commuters to avoid unnecessary encroaching of members coming to the main road.

“We are begging that they should temporarily operate here because there’s no accessible road network to the new park and the worst aspect of the challenges is their safety owning to insecurity, We are talking about the lives and properties of bus drivers, taxi drivers knowing the state flashpoints,” he explained.

Azi disclosed that if they insist on allowing them to operate inside the Jos main Market authority we are saying that the fragile nature of the state and for them to push away these second-hand clothes sellers that competing with them might spark skirmishes shortly.

He lamented that the place is yet to be landscaped and a lot of debris littered all over the space with shanties that have been mounted so the government has not been able to clear them for the bus drivers to move inside.

We are saying that the area is not advised to let them occupy the market.

We appreciate the members of the committee and officials of government for making a frantic effort to sanity to return seamlessly because the process was done without any rancour so our brothers operating as commercial bus drivers need befitting parking space.

Azi Peter explained further that as the community they supported the government’s decision 100% and urge govt to allow private space for JUTH Community since they’re not creating problems or harmful to the system, we assure of positive contribution to better the well-being of communities and visitors coming to get treatment.