Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBON), on Monday, said that no fewer than 500 of its workers will lose their jobs following the relocation of buses to a new bus terminal/park in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The luxury bus owners, especially those who loads at Izu Chukwu park at Upper Iweka appealed to Governor Willie Obiano and Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Uchenna Okafor, to allow them to remain where they were operating at upper Iweka since the park did not extend to the expressway or block the road.
The National Task force Chairman of ALBON Chief Joseph Ejiofor and the Chairman of Anambra state zone of ALBON, Mr. Uchenna Maduakor, while briefing newsmen, on Monday, said that if they relocate to the new park at Okpoko which they said is far from their area, their business would be crippled and many people would lose their job thereby creating problem for the youths who feeds from their park.
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“We have been here at Izu Chukwu park since 2008 loading our luxury buses but they said we should relocate to a new park at Okpoko which is far from us. We have over 500 workers feeding from this park. Our park is a private park which we are paying for our rent annually, most of us just paid for the year and some boys came and announced that we should relocate even when our park is not along the expressway or neither does it block the road”.
.”We don’t cause gridlock. We have been helping to control traffic. Government should allow us to remain where we are, we are not on the road, we are inside Izu Chukwu park approved by the government and who pays revenue to the government.
“We wondered why they said we should relocate to the new park while others are still where they are loading, the question is why singling us out?
“We appeal to the governor to come to our aid, we know him as hardworking governor who meant well for the state but he should listen to the cry of the people who feed from this park.
“We appealed to the state government to allow us to remain in our park or alternatively they should give us another place closer to our customers.
“That new place is not even government park, it is being managed by individual. Government did not inform us before embarking on that project because it is not government park then why trying to force us to go the park when we have our own park where we load comfortably.
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“We have about seven luxury companies loading in this park who feed from this place.
“The Anambra State Government is the only state in the southeast zone that accommodate and support business to thrive and we commend governor Obiano for that and we app lead to him to consider the number of workers that will lose their businesses to the new order and have a rethink and look into the matter” the group stated.
Recalled that the state’s commissioner of Transport, Mr. Okafor, had commissioned a new bus terminal/park and mandated all the buses along the expressway and upper Iweka to be loading and offloading at the park henceforth in order to de-congest the roads and reduce accidents.