NTA Clarifies

The NTA says that there are contracts made by the Government of Liberia and other private institutions for its buses. The Operations Manager, Menicon Nagbe, told the Truth Breakfast Show on Truth FM in Paynesville that one of the buses was given to the General Services Agency or GSA free-of-charge because of the challenges it faces to transport its workers to and from work.

According to him, the government also requested the institution to provide another bus to the Ministry of Agriculture, while a few of the buses were contracted to US army convey its personnel to and from their headquarters after work.

Mr. Nagbe noted that the NTA was working with the Ministry of Education in an agreement for a bus exclusively for students from 5am to 8am and from 1pm to 4pm, adding that all students will be required to pay L$5.00. 

The Public Relations Officer of the NTA, also speaking on the show, said Robert Wilson, the buses are contracted to private institutions because they adhere to the regulations governing the buses. 

Mr. Wilson also indicated that there were challenges with which the NTA authority was faced, including the insufficiency of the buses, huge traffic congestion and poor road conditions..

He said there were 40 operational NTA buses, while 15 were already incapacitated completely because of the absence of spare parts. He said the possibility of repairing 9 of the buses is high, while 4 buses are being reconditioned.  

According to him, there are a total of 68 buses owned by the National Transit Authority since 2010 to present.

By Rewina Juduh