The saga between the government of the Gambia and the National Transport Union on the one hand, and the Transport Union and the passengers has caused a lot of inconvenience already.
Scores of citizens could be seen lining up our roads yesterday struggling to get transport to go to work. Drivers had called for a sit down strike against the announcement of the reduction of transport fares from various locations in the country.
The government of the Gambia had earlier announced the reduction of transport fares following a reduction of pump prices for fuel.
This caused a lot of inconvenience to the people as they had to struggle really hard to get to work.
The question that need asking now is whether or not there was adequate communication between the government and the Transport Union before the announcement of the reduction of the fares. The announcement said that the government and the Transport Union negotiated and took this decision together, only for people to realize that majority of the drivers were not happy with the decision. This raises the question whether the Transport Union is actually united in their decision. Are they in control of their drivers? Is the reduction justified?
All these questions need to be answered and negotiations conducted to ensure that a solution is found as soon as possible to reduce the problems a protracted altercation can cause.
Whatever the case, one thing is revealed the action of the drivers: our democracy is coming of age and that workers are now ready to demand their rights. This is promising for the democratic process. Let us use dialogue to resolve our issues in order to build a better Gambia.
