Africa-Press – Seychelles. Meeting with inhabitants scheduled before end October
The ministry responsible for transport has confirmed that it will meet with Intendance residents before the end of October to discuss the public bus service offered in that area, following a petition filed by the residents who are asking that the bus schedule be reviewed.
Minister Antony Derjacques yesterday informed the National Assembly that the petition will be taken into consideration, alongside data collected by the Seychelles Public Transport Company (SPTC).
He was answering a question brought by elected member for Takamaka, Hon. Terence Mondon, who had informed the National Assembly that the inhabitants were not happy with the present service.
He wanted to know why the company had reduced the number of services on that route and whether the bus shuttle service during off-peak hours was responding to the resident’s demand.
Minister Derjacques told the National Assembly that SPTC reviewed the number of buses on the Intendance route based on the number of passengers living in the area and this was done following a much-needed repair that was carried out on that stretch of road.
At present, during weekdays, for the benefit of the workers, SPTC offers two bus services during peak hours in the morning straight from Intendance to town and another two bus services in the afternoon, from town to Intendance.
During mid-day, there is a bus service linking Quatre Bornes and Intendance, from which passengers can access other buses travelling to town.
Minister Derjacques said statistics show that 95 passengers on average daily use the Quatre Bornes/Intendance bus service and the number has remained more or less similar to that of October last year.
“At least 85 of the 95 passengers are using SPTC buses during peak hours. There is also a bus that transports school children to and from Intendance,” explained Minister Derjacques.
According to SPTC, a shuttle service is operational between Quatre Bornes and Intendance during weekends.
“To benefit passengers who have to take two buses daily, SPTC is providing them with workers special bus card, which allows them to pay for only two tickets instead of four,” he added.
SPTC said it was satisfied with the service as it allows it to be more efficient and the number of buses provided was enough for the number of passengers travelling on that route.
For his part, Hon. Mondon said the present service was not catering for the residents and the company should review the schedule as soon as possible.
“There are a hundred homes that depend on public buses, plus there are tourists and foreign workers in that area. Today people are walking up to five kilometres especially those living in Bazarka. We have the elderly who have to go to church, post-secondary and university students who have to rely on private cars because public buses are not available,” he said.
He said it was a pity that SPTC was yet to meet with the residents following their petition.
Present at yesterday’s session was SPTC’s chief operating officer, Jeffy Zialor, who informed the National Assembly that they had just received the petition and they will consider the request. However, he said the company, which relies entirely on data to plan its bus service, was satisfied with the number of services provided on that route.
“Like all other places where there is resource constraint, we tend to distribute our resources, and at Intendance we offer the shuttle service over the weekend and during weekdays we take maximum passengers. Based on our data and ticket sales, we see that at present it is not viable to provide a 60-seater bus on Intendance route, especially on weekends,” said Mr Zialor.
However, he said the company will meet with the residents and relook at the present model and see whether it can be improved.
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