PASSENGERS’S MANIFEST NEGLECTED BY COMMUTTERS
Importance
The-conventional-paper-manifest
DEBORAH ADEKAA
Proper documentation of passengers on a Manifest is an acceptable practice all over the World. One of the basic reasons is that peradventure an accident occur, victims are easily identified. It also makes sorting easy when the need for compensation arises. At least this is the explanation of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Nigeria.
Speaking to THE TRANSMITTER, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Benue State Command, Corps Commander Aliyu Baba said, “The Manifest is a document handled by transport companies. It contains general information concerning any traveler like name, age, sex, address, blood group, destination, phone contact number and next of kin. The passengers manifest is useful information in cases of road mishap, missing person or misplaced item.”
The Sector Commander explained that knowing the blood group of a victim facilitates medical attention in an accident situation. The Corps Commander further explained that it is the mandate of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to ensure that all transport companies comply with the usage of Passengers’ Manifest.
It is therefore a wrong for any transport company to refuse to issue Passenger Manifest. The FRSC said there is every need for awareness and publicity on the importance of Passengers’ Manifest for passengers and the General Public. On its part, the Command deploys personnel to motor parks for enlightenment on safety measures.
When THE TRANSMITTER visited some motor parks in Makurdi, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) was not seen issuing Manifest. A Unit chairman of the Union who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they issue Passengers’ Manifest to “long distance travelers.”
Iveren Atsaga said she was able to recover her missing bag, because the person, who mistook her belongings, provided correct information and was easily traced.
To Mabel Atu, she does not provide the correct information for the fear of her contact falling into the wrong hands. She said she has encountered a terrible situation in the past through dissemination of her personal information on public spaces.
Prosper Umeh said he does not fill in the Passengers’ Manifest because he feels it is not useful. But this is because he has never been educated on this policy.
The Passengers should demand for manifest which is also important security wise. Instances are many where faces of passengers are shown on media spaces for identification in cases of road mishap. This is necessitated by issues of unconsciousness and even death.
Incidents have shown that some passengers provide the wrong information for reasons bothering or ignorance or deceit. Many people declared missing maybe unconscious in some hospitals in some mortuary or buried in unmarked graves as unidentified victims of road crashes.
It was a panacea for proper identification that stakeholders in the public transport sector introduced the documentary procedure to put records straight, but this has been abused overtime. As it stands, many transport companies do not operate with this procedure. In the technology era, it is best to improve on the Passenger Manifest according to a transport sector operator John Kube is in order; to improve security and safety. He said this information; using improved technology can serve as a means for national security; to monitor the movement of residents.
As it stands, the idea is jettisoned and no one has been arrested for failing to fill in the manifest form or for providing wrong information. In any case, stakeholders in the transport sector have failed to implement the policy. It is high time we started making the Manifest mandatory for the good of all.
