This followed the Wednesday announcement by the Federal Government of 50 percent waiver on interstate round transport and free train rides as part of moves to cushion the impact of the high cost of living in the country, especially during Yuletide.
Okhiria, while speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, expressed concerns over the intervention, urging the government to defray the cost.
He said, “This is not the first time. We did this two years ago. It was effective. I say we’ve yet to recover from that. But what is the government for? The government is to make sure that people have comfort as much as possible
“And we are quite willing and wishing to provide that service. You know, you don’t forget in other developed world, they get this thing either directly or indirectly.
“You recall during the COVID, even private companies were given relief, and those without jobs like in the UK, US, and everywhere…So it’s a good thing that the government considers we should do a free service, but they should also be willing to provide the resources to do it.”
The NRC boss explained that because of the high price of diesel which the trains run on, the government should make provisions to cover the cost and other logistics.
“We are hoping this time they are going to give us fuel and those 15 days we are going to provide the free service. They are also willing to provide at least the money we pay to the cleaners and the security,” he added.
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