November 18, (THEWILL) – There is apprehension in the Calabar metropolis over a planned 100% hike in taxi fare.
This follows a notice in circulation where taxi drivers under the auspices of Unified Commercial Drivers Association announced a 100% hike in fares.
The notice reads, “We the commercial drivers of Calabar Metropolis have decided to increase transportation fare from N50 to N100 short distance due to the high cost of spare parts, fuel and other commodities in the market.”
The drivers attributed the increase to the cost of engine oil that went from N2,500 to N8,500 between 2015 and 2021. Others are fuel going from N87 to N170, Audi engine from N60,000 to N210,000, while timing belt increased from N2,500 to N15,000.
Confirming the development, the public relations officer of the Unified Commercial Drivers Association, James Odu, said the increase will commence on the 22nd of November, 2021.
He said: “After much deliberation, why we increased the fare is not because we want to make money or we are happy.
“It is because of the increase in spare parts and fuel.”
He stressed that the increase is restricted to the 5000 members of the association in Calabar Metropolis.
Philip Uduak, a student of the University of Calabar, said the planned increase will complicate life for students.
Also speaking, David Ushie, a public servant, said inflation has swallowed up their salaries and they will end up working for nothing.
He said a civil servant will end up spending an average of N20,000 per month on transportation, which is almost equal to the minimum wage the state government is yet to implement.
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
