Easy Coach not suspended, says NTSA

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has assured commuters relying on Easy Coach that the bus company’s transport services have not been suspended.

This follows reports by a workers' union condemning the alleged cancellation of the company's Transport Licensing Board (TLB) licence by the road safety agency.

In a statement on Friday, the Transport Workers Union had said it sympathised with the families of those who lost their relatives in a recent road crash involving one of the company’s buses at Salgaa in which eight people died.

The bus was on October 28 ferrying home pupils from St Peter’s Mumias Boys Primary School and students from St Claires Maragoli Girls for the December holidays when the accident happened.

According to Regional Traffic Enforcement Officer Joseph Muthee, a matatu heading to Kisumu from Nairobi was trying to overtake on the climbing lane when it collided with the bus at the black spot.

It on that accident that the workers' union alleged the NTSA had based its alleged decision to revoke the operator's licence.

“[The] NTSA action to cancel the TLB Licence for Easy Coach Ltd has and will render thousands of families jobless which is unfair; unlawful and contrary to the government policy on [decent] job creation,” said the union in the statement signed by Dan Mihadi, the general secretary.

WORK HALTED

But in a series of tweets on its official Twitter page, the NTSA said it had not suspended the operations of Easy Coach, explaining that the operator had only halted its work on Thursday to train drivers on road safety and customer care.

“NTSA has not suspended the operations of @EasyCoachLtd, the operator halted work yesterday to train its drivers #Roadsafety and customer care,” said one of the tweets.

The company also assured its customers that it was in operation, dismissing the claim by the workers' union.

“All Easy Coach Ltd operations are on, please ignore any information to the contrary,” said a post on the bus company's Twitter page.

Later, in a phone interview, Mr Mihadi confirmed that the bus company was in operation and that he had even visited the offices to prove it.

“Easy Coach are back on the road and are even preparing for the night shift,” he said.

However, he insisted that the operator was off the road for some time, prompting their action.

He said the NTSA is unable to regulate matatu saccos, adding that Easy Coach is well-run company.

By September 20 this year, the NTSA had listed only five saccos that had been suspended for not complying with regulations.

They include Kisumu Ahero Mowouk Sacco, Daima Connection Ltd Sacco, Narok Line Services Sacco, Sema Stage Sacco and Mwingi Travellers Sacco.