By our Staff Writer
The new Inspector General (IG) of the Liberia National Police has been told by the Senate that he was wrong to order commercial motorcyclists to resume plying restricted areas on main streets.
IG Patrick Sudue relaxed the restriction in certain main streets last Saturday in a meeting with commercial motorcyclists, a move that sparked public outcry in some quarters.
Senators told the police chief when he appeared before the Senate plenary on Thursday, that his action was “unilateral”.
The police boss was told not to extend further relaxation of the restriction and consult stakeholders.
IG Sudue told the Senators that he temporarily lifted the ban on 2 of the 13 no-go zones, in line with the CDC government’s “Pro-poor” agenda.
The Police boss also said he took the decision because of the “good behavior” of the commercial motorcyclists during the recent elections.
However, a report from the LNP released to the media after the electionss on January 3, 2018 proved the contrary.
According to the report, in just a brief period during the recent elections when the LNP relaxed the ban on motorcyclists plying no-go zones, eight persons died in motorbike accidents. Several others were also injured.
Releasing the report at the time, the former police administration said that prompted LNP authorities at the time to reinstate the ban on commercial motorcyclists locally referred to as “Pehm-pehm riders”.to feeder roads and neighbourhoods.
Death trap
Given past history, the latest move is seen as very risky, as commercial motorcyclists plying the main streets have not made our roads any safer, with countless number of crashes resulting into deaths and injuries.
Most of them neither know nor respect traffic rules, whilst carrying several persons at the time without wearing safety helmets.
It was because of the high incidents of fatal motorcycle accidents that their movements were restricted shortly after the late December 2017 presidential runoff election.
In addition to the rise in motorbike accidents, the police said at the time that some commercial motorcycles were conniving with criminals to carryout snatching of phones, bags and robbery activities.
Police said most of the victims from motorcycle crashes included children, women and the elderly.
The new Board Chairman of the Federation of Motorcycle and Tricycle Union of Liberia (FOMTUL) has threatened to punish any motorcyclists or Tri-cyclists found violating the Union’s code of conduct.
Rev. Luther Tarpeh earlier this week said the commercial motorcycle group had and an image problem that is negatively affecting the credibility of the Union.