The leadership of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Delta State Council has called on the State Governor, Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori to restore the operations of Delta Line to its original state.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the State Executive Council meeting in Asaba yesterday, the Chairman of AUPCTRE, Comrade Lawrence Otueroro, noted that the current state of affairs of Delta Line Transport company under concession with God Is Good Motors calls for concern, describing the situation as one that has left the once-vibrant public transport outfit in a deplorable condition.
Otueroro said the Union had, on several occasions, written to the State Government to draw attention to the decline of Delta Line and to advocate a review of the partial tripartite agreement involving the Delta State Government, the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) and God Is Good Transport Development Company.
According to him, the arrangement should be urgently reviewed and, where legally and contractually permissible, reversed or terminated in what he described as the overriding interest of the people of Delta State.
”An asset created for the people must remain an asset for the people,” Otueroro told journalists, insisting that the Union’s position was not intended to work against private-sector participation in transportation, but to ensure that a State-owned asset was not lost when it could still be salvaged.
Delta Line Buses Transport
The AUPCTRE Chairman maintained that Delta Line could still be revived if the government summoned the political will to invest in the company, adding that with professional management and a clear business model, the outfit could be repositioned to compete with private operators.
He listed some of the interventions required to include the introduction of modern buses, a comprehensive vehicle maintenance system, electronic ticketing, proper route planning, staff training, transparent financial accountability and the development of modern terminals and passenger facilities across the State.
Otueroro urged Governor Oborevwori to personally look into the matter, describing it as an opportunity for the administration to make a bold intervention that would be remembered by generations of Deltans.
He specifically appealed to the Governor to review the tripartite arrangement, assess whether it had achieved its intended objectives, consider its termination or restructuring where appropriate, protect the interests of affected workers, and develop a blueprint for the revival of Delta Line as a modern and commercially viable State-owned company.
The Union Chairman stressed that the matter went beyond AUPCTRE, describing it as one that concerned ordinary Deltans who depend on affordable transportation, workers whose livelihoods are tied to the sector, and the protection of public investments made with taxpayers’ resources.
He said Delta Line, having been established as a strategic public transport institution to provide affordable transportation and support economic activities in the State, remained a valuable asset that should not be allowed to disappear without a determined effort at revival.
Otueroro called on the State Government to seize the moment to commence a transparent process of engaging relevant stakeholders and developing a practical roadmap towards restoring the transport company.
He expressed confidence that with the right leadership, investment and management, Delta Line could be brought back to life, noting that while the buses may have stopped running as they used to, the vision behind the establishment of the company remained achievable.
The AUPCTRE Chairman restated the Union’s appeal to Governor Oborevwori to save Delta Line, restore the State transport outfit, protect the public asset and give Deltans back what he called their transportation heritage.