Opportunists are back on the roads in Malaita Province demanding money for patching affecting areas along the North Road.
This came following a heavy downpour felt in the province lately.
Transport providers along the North Road told Solomon Star Auki that they hardly make a profit from their daily runs because of the high demand for money from the opportunists before they can pass through roadblocks.
A transport provider who usually transports passengers to West Fataleka along the North Road confessed to this paper that he paid up a total of $300 for the uninvited road workers before reaching Auki.
The transport provider said $300 is the profit money that is supposed to go to the vehicle owner and not the uninvited road workers who he termed as ‘opportunists.’
In the light of this unprecedented demand, transport providers are calling on police and responsible authorities to monitor the North Road to ensure no opportunists are on the road to demand money.
They also want the roads to be fixed for the safety of the traveling public.
This paper was informed that this has been a common practice along roads in Malaita where uninvited road workers fixed potholes and charged huge amounts of money from transport providers.
Transport providers said this exercise is ripping them off which does not speak well of their commitment to pay up their license fees.
The transport providers believed that the responsible authority is not doing its job which triggered opportunists on the road demanding money for the little work they do.
By WILSON SAENI
Auki News Bureau
