Drivers and Management of the Bayelsa State Transport Company (BTC) have been urged to comply with the policies formulated by the present administration to guide the operations of the company for efficiency and optimal benefits.
The state Deputy Governor, Dr Peter Akpe, gave the advice at a meeting with a delegation of the BTC drivers known as Prosperity Taxi Drivers and the Management of the Company in his office in Government House, Yenagoa, at the weekend.
A statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, quoted the Deputy Governor as clarifying that the transport vehicles procured some three years ago were not meant for hire purchase arrangement but rather to boost the fleet of operational vehicles of the state-owned transport company.
He further explained that the policy of government was geared towards creating jobs for Bayelsans in the transport sector as well as make movement especially within the state easier for commuters.
The deputy governor enjoined the prosperity taxi drivers to do their job of driving with dignity, courtesy and pride as applicable elsewhere, stressing that there was so much to gain in the business if they did so.
Dr Akpe, who promised to look into the issues raised by the drivers, identified lack of clear terms of engagement between the management of the Bayelsa Transport Company and its drivers as the main cause of the current misunderstanding.
He also charged the company's management to be more business-oriented and accountable to achieve the policy objectives, the state government had set for the transport company.
His words: "Government procured those vehicles for the Company to manage for the benefit of you the drivers and Bayelsans who are not driving. That is, the company should employ people who can work with them but give government the desired results.
"The model we are running, which you refer to as a scheme, is meant to run itself. We feel that the little seed we have planted will grow and bear fruits. That is, the company should be able to provide more vehicles so that Bayelsans will benefit by coming to drive.
"While those who are not driving will also have more vehicles on our roads to solve their transportation problems. That is the core objective of the model we are running. So, this your mindset of driving the vehicles for some years, and then go home with them is not part of the policy.
"This is a business some of us here had transacted before. So, you cannot tell me that you're not getting anything out of it. I want you to see what you are doing as a job with dignity. What you are making is more than what most civil servants and political appointees are getting at the end of the month."
In their presentations, some of the drivers including Mr Konboye Dirinaghan and Mrs Torukuru Munene, appealed to the state government to prevail on the BTC management to regularise their employment and reduce their daily returns from the current N10,000 to N5000, among other requests.
The state Commissioner for Transport, Hon. Priye Broderick, the Acting Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr Irorodamie Komonibo, his Deputy Governor's Office counterpart, Comrade Gowon Toruyouyei, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bayelsa Transport Company, Hon. Imomotimi Fanama, were among other top government officials at the meeting.