Link Bus worried about loan accumulation due to suspension
Buses park at the Link Bus Terminal in Kisenyi, Kampala on May 11, 2022. PHOTO / ISAAC KASAMANI
What you need to know:
- Speaking to the media in Kampala Wednesday, the UBOA General Secretary Robert Kyobe said that since the company has treated the injured passengers, they need money and they cannot manage this when their buses are grounded because they have to react to the affected people immediately as they wait for insurance companies to refund.
Uganda Bus Owners Association (UBOA) has cried out to the government to lift the two weeks ban which was imposed on the Link Bus Company, saying that this will cause loans to accumulate.
Last week, the government grounded 90 buses of Link Bus Company after one of them crashed in Fort Portal, killing 21 people, 20 of them on spot. Works State minister Musa Ecweru said that following consultations with different stakeholders, the government decided to suspend the operations of the company.
“It’s no longer a secret that we have suspended the operating license of Link Bus Company because we want during ongoing investigations our teams to look at the whole fleet of the buses in the company to see if they are mechanically sound. If we find out that this tragic accident was a unique case, we shall put them back on road,” he said.
Speaking to the media in Kampala Wednesday, the UBOA General Secretary Robert Kyobe said that since the company has treated the injured passengers, they need money and they cannot manage this when their buses are grounded because they have to react to the affected people immediately as they wait for insurance companies to refund.
“So far 10 people have been discharged and since we are recovering from the Covid-9 effects, most of the buses which are on the roads are bank loans and with the economic situation, we are operating on a negative because we are in arrears with banks,” he said.
Mr Kyobe added that Link Bus Company is likely to have an accumulation of loans because grounding a fleet of buses affects the payment process so much. And if one bus is not working, it takes a month to clear the arrears.
“Such suspensions have also led to the closure of bus companies like Bakulu Bus Company and we would not like this to happen to another company,” he said.
He also revealed that UBOA are still in talks with the government to come up with a solution on how they can avoid such accidents on the roads because they are there to serve the public.
We urge the government to lift the ban on Link Buses so that they resume their operations
The government has come on board to inspect all the 90 buses as a standard procedure and review the expertise of the bus drivers, and that process has been ongoing since the accident happened.
“We believe the process had reached a good step with over 40 buses and their drivers being reviewed and we believe the ban should be lifted with immediate effect to allow our members to resume operations.
The lifting of the ban will also ease the transport pressure especially in the western region because the passengers are also affected.
Mr Solomon Nsimire from Link bus Company said that they are in talks with the government to come up with a final decision on how they can resume their operations.
“We were also affected by the accident because we lost two staff and we are still looking after the injured people so that they recover well. Taking care of over 10 people is not easy when we are not actually working,“ he said.
He also revealed that as a company, they are coming up with a number of measures along with action plans on how they will operate especially when they resume ensuring the safety of their client.
