TROSKI DIARIES (2)

A troski is the convenient means of transport in Ghana but do we always get value for money. “Bra mate, ma mi duster”, a passenger would say, because the seats are dirty. “Mate how much is the fare?” Another would ask because he got the wrong change. “Driver lower the volume of your radio” yet another would request because music is too loud. 

There are times a bus is full, has taken the maximum number of passengers, yet you will hear the conductor calling for more passengers. “Mate where will the person sit?” a passenger asks. The mate pretends not to hear it so the question goes unanswered. Someone stops the bus and the same question is posed at the conductor. He replies, “Oh sit down someone will alight at the next bus stop”.

 Passengers complain several times about overloading yet the drivers just ignore. A conductor will gladly give out his seat while he hangs at the side of the moving vehicle without a care of the risk involved. There was an instance a passenger refused to shift in order to accommodate the new passenger insisting that he didn’t pay to squeezed. Some agreed with him others insisted he was being selfish. Nevertheless, he was fighting for his rights as a passenger who had paid to be comfortable.

In making ours cars more habitable would it be too much to ask, that there be a first aid box in the cars? A lady shares her experience of how she got cut by an exposed metal part as she climbed into a bus. The cut was a bit deep so she ended up spilling a lot of blood into the bus.

“Oh Sorry!”  Some passengers sympathized while another lady handed her a tissue. Amid this, the mate was indifferent calling for passengers. When the bus was full, he started collecting fares and took the exact fare from the lady who got hurt. This is cruel! You offered no help, grudgingly said sorry, and took the exact fare from someone who got hurt by your vehicle. Imagine the discomfort of bleeding through a trip because there is no first aid!

Can anything be done about drivers who give out passengers to other cars simply because they don’t want to continue the trip. Usually, this is the trend; 

“How many are left?’ the driver would ask

Four! One will alight at the next bus stop! the mate will say.

“Stop the bus coming from behind and pay for them”.  

At this juncture know your fate has been decided without being consulted. My worry is not in the transferring but on the basis for it. If you know you are not up to the task, why trouble innocent passengers?For the filth in the buses it is mainly on the part of passengers. We have hammered a lot on the drivers so this goes for us. You can testify that it can be quite uncomfortable when you step in a car and there are litters of yoghurt, biscuits and toffee wrappers, sachet water, orange peels, etc. Recently i got on board a bus and almost steeped on a rubber containing grinded pepper. Eiih! Who left it there? You would not want someone to litter your office so please respect that of the drivers and mates by keeping your litters. Unless you want to advocate for a dustbin in the buses. Haha!

Let us strive to do the right things in our small ways so society can be better than how we met it.I don’t know whose job it is but the station masters can help by checking if the cars are road worthy before giving them tickets to work with. Also about the conductors, I think some NGOs should take up the mantle of educating them on customer service and personal hygiene. Just so the average hustler can be comfortable and get a good return for their money.