Book

Description

The relevance of an efficient transport sector to the development of any nation cannot be overstated. It has the potential to boost the economic prowess of a nation by facilitating the movement of people and distribution of goods. It further enhances social cohesion by allowing different people of diverse backgrounds to experience new cultural environments and values for themselves. In Cameroon, Inter - Urban Transport has in recent years gained prominence. This is due to the fact that the majority of Cameroonians do not own automobiles and thus have to rely on public transport to prosecute their business between the various cities. The evidence of the growth of this sector is the rapid emergence of various transport agencies in the various towns, especially the regional headquarters like Yaounde, Douala, Bamenda, Buea, e.t.c. These agencies have been born out of the existence of the fertile market that exists, as travel by road is the most prominent in the country. It is now a normal sight to perceive these buses on the highways, both day and night, in an endless bustle of ferrying passengers between various urban centers. The rise to prominence of this activity has prompted the government to adopt a legal framework in an attempt to regulate the market. This consists of enacting several laws including the Highway Code, and the Framework Law for Consumer Protection, as well as creating and empowering several institutions like the Ministry of Transport and the Motor Insurance Guarantee Fund to implement policy in that domain, all in a bid to regulate and make the sector efficient.  Despite these laudable efforts, any inquiry into the state of law would reveal that passengers of inter - urban transport are daily faced with several ordeals among which are the frequent loss of luggage, overloading, as well as abusive fluctuations in the fares, at the unilateral instance of transporters. Some of these ordeals are explored in this work, as well as the prospective actions that the government could undertake in a bid to profer remedies for aggrieved passengers and make the sector more attractive.