NILE STAR SUSPENSION DISRUPTS WEST NILE TRANSPORT

By Morish Dramadri

Arua city

With just days after the suspension of the operations of Nile Star Bus Company, bus companies operating in West Nile are reportedly experiencing pressure in accommodating the increasing number of travelers commuting to different routes from the region.

Earlier this week, the government, through the State Minister for Works and Transport, Fred Byamukama, suspended Nile Star Bus Company from operating for 30 days following a fatal road crash along the Arua–Karuma road that left seven people dead and several others injured.

Although there is no official daily figure for the total number of bus passengers in the West Nile region, reports indicate that Nile Star Bus Company handled nearly 35 percent of passenger traffic in Arua City

Ismail Juma, the branch manager of YY Coaches Company, verified that the suspension of Nile Star Bus Company operations is greatly impacting transport operators, with many buses now overwhelmed by the rising number of passengers seeking travel services.
“We are sorry for the souls that we lost to Nile star, the effect of this has really affected us. Nile star alone take like 35% of the total people moving in people in Arua here, since they have been stopped to work however much YY has buses mostly in Eastern and Northern routes, passengers are many in numbers those customers who used to move with Nile Star have all moved to YY, there’s now pressure, many people even miss bus,” Ismail unveiled.

Meanwhile, Abdulmaliki Mawa, the branch manager of Nile Coach Bus Company and a long-serving staff in the transport sector since 1994, attributed the recent accident involving Nile Star Company to human error, assuring the public that Nile Coach will not hike transport fares during this period, as the company stands in solidarity with families that lost their loved ones in the accident.

“Some of these accidents were caused by human error, accident with any bus company we all feel sorry. As of now Arua city is a busy city handling so many nationalities, for us as Nile coach the target was to so business and serve humanity, we want  to do business we want to serve humanity, we are not going to get excited because these are the same people we have been serving,” Mawa guaranteed,

As investigations into the fatal crash continue, the temporary suspension of Nile Star Bus Company is expected to significantly reshape public transport operations in West Nile, with both travelers and transport companies refreshing for the impact in the coming weeks