Liberia News: HARDSHIPS BEGIN FOR CITIZENS

Monrovia:Scores of Liberians especially  students, private and public workers including business people were on Wednesday May 15, 2024 seen taking a compulsory walking exercise to mark day one of the Police Full Compliance Regulations enforcement process on Motorcyclists.

Majority of them were coerced to walk because their fast mode of transportation which is motorbikes which they have been used to over the years  were prevented from plying the main restricted streets and areas until they can meet up with the agreed regulations by law.

The full compliance regulation according to the police include; the wearing of helmets, one core rider at the bike with helmet, registration of bikes and obtaining of licenses.

Others are visibility of view mirrors, insurance, the wearing of shoes or sneakers and reflective jackets among others.

However, some fortunate Liberians who fought to board taxi or passenger buses including private vehicles to enable them reach to their respective places also experienced difficulties due to huge traffic which started from ELWA junction to Vamomajunction respectively.

The ongoing process has so far prompted mixed views in the public with some group of people in support of the regulationsthereby lauding the police for such exercise.

“We have to be law abiding citizens in this country; it is about doing the right thing and to avoid doing business as usual, their safety also matters and many more,” they narrated.

On the other hand, some citizens who are not in support of the regulations described the full enforcement process by the police as untimely. According to them, the police needed to do the process in two phases as a start.

The regulation is not bad but they needed to have started with the smaller ones, they said. Some complained that government should have provided buses on the road before embarking on such process.

“The Police should have started with the safety enforcement to include, compulsory helmet wearing, one code rider on the bike, the compulsory wearing of reflective jackets, sneakers and license plate at the back of the motorcycle and the visibility of the two view mirrors respectively,” they explained.

As for the second aspect of the regulation, they argued that such should require some times to be given to the motorcyclists. They maintained that obtaining licenses and the insurance are time consuming and as such, the enforcement of it needed to be extended for at most two months.

The current enforcement they narrated is effecting everyone especially majority of the struggling citizens who the government should be more concerned about.

“Imagine people walked from ELWA junction to Catholic Junction and to Vamoma Junction respectively before getting on car to go to school and work respectively but the greatest issue was lateness,” they added.

At the same time, they told our reporter that some of them also sat in car in traffic from ELWA Junction to Vamoma before they experienced some free flow as two to three hours of time delays were noticed.

As the compliance regulation continues, several bikes were on day one arrested by the police in violation of the regulations while fewer bikes were seen plying the streets especially those who successfully met the full compliance requirement or bench mark.

It is expected that motorcyclists will now rush at the Transport Ministry and other relevant areas to obtain their required documents and safety gadgets in order to be in full compliance.

As the process continues , motorcyclists are also appealing to the police to give them some time in order to meet up with the full compliance regulation while passengers especially students and workers will be left with no alternative but to watch the process as it unfolds as time and traffic will be their greatest enemy.

Meanwhile, Montserrado County District Number Ten Representative Yekeh Kolubah has also appealed to the Liberia National Police to give the Motorcyclists at most one month period in order to obtain their documents in a drive to be in full compliance as required by law.