Bus Stop!

The front page of today's Nation juxtaposes two stories about the crises in public transport.

The first (see Nation report), which seems to utter a warning to school children about their behaviour on Transport Board buses, is in fact written about the behaviour of children NOT on the buses, but who are attacking rivals riding on the bus. Sort of punishing the victim? My take is not meant to belittle in anyway the seriousness of the children's misbehaviour, but is really another plea for those who write about things for the public to just get it right, not follow the rite of getting it wrong. So, warn people on buses that people standing on the streets may attack them, and this is really a risk amongst the school children.

The indiscipline of school children is rampant in many countries, and its occurrence here seems to be causing consternation. Perhaps it's easy to talk about 'effective supervision', but as I have said often, these children are not living and growing in a vacuum. I rarely see a bus stop with only children, and often with other adults present. Are they blind, deaf and/or afraid? I know the answer to expect, because I often hear it when I pose the question about why certain things are tolerated here: "That's how it is." (Believe me, I got that from a policeman at the weekend.) To which I retort, "No. That's how you allow it to be."

The second is about more carnage on the local roads as two minibuses collide (see Nation report). Thankfully, no deaths occurred but there were substantial injuries suffered (16 people). There is a risk that bus crashes and recklessness of the drivers could become like 'black-on-black' crime, that is, less newsworthy. I did not read one word in the report about the conduct of the drivers and how they buses collided, but I guess we will hear about that soon. Just a few days ago we had another verbal salvo about reckless Transport Board (government-owned) bus drivers (see Nation report, February 12): the report noted 'members of the audience complained about several close calls with the Government-owned buses. Observing the speed limit, driving while using cell phones and drivers being unfamiliar with some routes were some of the issues raised.' This is nothing new to most road users here, who have probably been too close for comfort with a TB missile, and just missed going off the road. Did I say "salvo"? I hope it's not just "saliva". More noise is not needed about the bad driving, action needs to be taken, and I don't mean clearing up the mess afterwards.