The ugly face of Kano motor parks

The deplorable condition of motor parks in Kano, most especially during the raining season is putting both the motorists and   passengers to great hardship. Many passengers would rather board a vehicle on the road side than patronizing the motor parks. When it rains, everywhere is flooded making it impossible for cars to move in or […]

The deplorable condition of motor parks in Kano, most especially during the raining season is putting both the motorists and   passengers to great hardship. Many passengers would rather board a vehicle on the road side than patronizing the motor parks. When it rains, everywhere is flooded making it impossible for cars to move in or out, and  after the rain the heaps of refuse brought in by the flood turns the park into an eyesore.
Binta Aliyu, a passenger who  went through Unguwa Uku motor park in Tarauni local government area of Kano State, said the sight was too bad and too difficult to walk in or out of   “Unguwa Uku motor park is an eyesore. No passenger will go through that park, if he can get where to board a vehicle to his destination.
One has to move carefully because of the mud and the slippery nature of the motor park. Daily Trust gathered that lack of a drainage system is responsible for the problem. Being a slope, water coming from the upper part of the neighbourhood goes through the motor park and due to lack of drainage, the water settles in the park, and this results in  the problem they are now facing.

People using the motor park have tried to address the problem, but it seems the work is beyond their power, as explained by the Chairman of Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) Abdullahi Usman, “We have tried within our capacity to keep the motor park in good shape, but the damage is so big that we could not achieve maximum success and the problem persists. We buy truck loads of sand to fill the damaged areas, and we conduct periodic sanitation to keep the place accessible, but it’s all in vain,” he said.
Abdulmalik Ado who scouts for passengers in the motor park, said despite the huge amount of revenue generated from the park, nothing is done to renovate it.
“Each and every car that you see here must have paid revenue before it is allowed to enter. Tricycle pays N30, commercial bus N100 and private cars pay N50, but look at the condition of this park” he said.

He added “Passengers are  no longer  willing to come here, and because of this gutter many go to other parks. This is why we are having illegal motor parks in the state. I’m calling on government to kindly come to our aid.”
Aminu Usman is the secretary Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Unguwa Uku motor park branch. In an  interview with our correspondent, Usman said the motor park is facing a lot of environmental problems, such as lack of drainage, refuse dump sites and insecurity. He said though they have done their best, the problem still lingers.
“We are doing  our possible best to bring an  end to all these problems, but sometimes the situation is so enormous and beyond our capacity. This land belongs to the government and we are responsible to government, but as we faced this problem, government is doing little to get us out of it.”
He explains  how they were paying  a meagre amount as gate fees  and were ordered to increase the fee by the government, but after increasing the fee for vehicles coming into the motor park, government is doing nothing to address the problem “Before now, our buses were paying N20 – N30 when entering the park, but government insists that the revenue was meagre, and we consulted with our members and the fee was increased to N100. This was  with the hope that some portion of the revenue generated will be used by the local government to solve this problem, to enable us have enough good parking space, but to no avail.”

He noted that if they could get  a good drainage system  the problems would be solved.
The story is the same in other Motor Parks in Kano. Yankaba Motor Park located along Hadejia road is used by people travelling to  Yobe, Borno and Jigawa states. When it rains, the park is over flooded due to lack of drainage. The culvert at the Motor Park is virtually useless because the water going through it has no outlet which would take it out of the station. This is happening because a petrol filling station  has been constructed on the path of the culvert, thereby making it impossible for the water to go out.

Explaining their predicament, the Vice Secretary National Union of Road Transport Workers, Yankaba Motor Park, Ibrahim Muhammad, said they have tried in their own capacity to reduce the hardship suffered by travelers and motorist coming to Yankaba Motor Park, but they still could not solve the problem because of the   lack of  a drainage, “Neither us nor the travelers going through this Motor Park are enjoying this place because when it rains, the place is over flooded,  and because there is no drainage, the water remains inside the park making it very difficult for us.”
According to him, many cars would stop working because of the water, and they still could not help the situation, saying they were suffering despite the amount of taxes the Motor Park is fetching the  government, “For every car that will enter this motor park, a fee of N100 is charged and for a tricycle, N50 is charged,  yet we don’t know what government is doing with the money.
He urged government to renovate the parks and make them  like  modern motor parks, to ease their activities and to allow travelers visit the park without much difficulty.
Responding, the Director Transport, Kano State Ministry for Works, Housing and Transport, Engineer Sani Hassan said plans are under way to upgrade the  Kano Motor Parks to modern motor parks, “We have a plan to upgrade motor parks in Kano state to modern ones, which will have  visitors lodge, parking space, toilets and restaurants. The plan also includes covering the park with asphalt.”