Passengers stranded as schools close

NYAGATARE/KARONGI - Secondary school students in Nyagatare District and passengers who travel long distances from Karongi district were stranded at taxi parks due to lack of enough transportation following the beginning of school holidays. In Nyagatare, the most affected students were those travelling short distances because the available vehicles had changed course by embarking on catering for long distance travellers as fares were hiked. The school term closed yesterday, in preparation of the 16th commemoration week of the Genocide against the Tutsi. ‘I have totally failed to get transport means to reach home. Buses are only carrying those travelling to Kigali because they pay more than us,’ Harriet Mutesi, one of the students from Nyagatare secondary school said. Speaking to The New Times, some transport service providers said that they were motivated by business considerations while making such abrupt moves. “This is business. It is a matter of choice. You cannot leave a passenger heading to Kigali and take the one travelling just a short distance and would pay less,’ one of the ATRACO drivers said. Scores of students in Karongi complained that they were forced to stay overnight because of lack of transport. “I arrived here in the morning to book a bus to Kigali, but all of them are full. It means I have to wait until tomorrow yet I have nowhere to stay tonight,” Francine Nshuti, a form three student at College St Marie in Bwishyura Sector said. Ends

National

Passengers stranded as schools close