By Ani Bassey
Commercial Taxi drivers in Cross River State under the Unified Commercial Drivers Association have concluded arrangements to double transport fares in the Calabar Metropolis
The association which has at least five thousand members in Calabar made this known in a notice which has been widely circulated within the metropolis.
The notice read in part “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”.
They cited the high cost of fuel as well as spare parts as the primary reason why they decided to hike the fares.
They gave a breakdown of factors that influenced the increase in the cost of Engine oil which increased from 2,500 to 8,500 between 2015 and 2021.
Other items which increased significantly in the period under review are Fuel from 87 to 170, Audi Engine from 60,000 to 210,000 while the timing belt increased from 2,500 to 15,000 all between 2015 to 2021.
Public Relations Officer of Unified Commercial Drivers Association, James Odu confirmed the development to ThisNigeria.
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He said the increase will commence on the 22nd of November, 2021.
He said they are not out to make money but it’s due to the cost of fuel and spare parts.
The State Commissioner for Transport has yet to react to the planned increase in transport fares.
Last week, pure water sellers in the Metropolis also imposed a 100 percent increase in the price of pure water as a bag of water that previously sold for N100 now sells for N200.
