The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, has revealed steps taken by the government to address challenges within the 'Ayalolo' bus system, including the removal of former management over failure to expand the fleet.

Speaking at a stakeholder meeting on Friday, the Minister recounted that upon assuming office, he engaged the leadership of 'Ayalolo' to assess the state of the public transport system.

According to him, he questioned the former management about fleet expansion since the introduction of 200 buses in 2014 and was dissatisfied with the response.

“When I assumed office as minister responsible for local government, I called the Ayalolo boss. We gave you 200 buses in 2014. I asked him how many buses had been added, and he said zero,” Mr. Ibrahim stated.

He explained that the lack of fleet expansion, coupled with the depreciation and deterioration of the existing buses, informed the decision to ask the former management to step aside.

“If 200 buses are all depreciating and running down and you are not increasing the fleet, then based on that, step aside,” he said.

Mr. Ibrahim disclosed that a new Managing Director has since been appointed and has begun efforts to resolve the challenges confronting the Ayalolo system.

He further revealed that the new management has engaged the Spanish Embassy, which has expressed readiness to support the expansion of the Ayalolo fleet through a grant.

“When the new boss came in and realised the problem, he went to the Spanish Embassy. They wanted to give us a grant. All that they needed was for the Minister for Finance to give a letter of no objection,” he explained.

According to the Minister, the grant, if approved, could amount to €1 million and would be used to augment the current Ayalolo bus fleet.

He appealed for high-level intervention to facilitate the issuance of the required approval from the Ministry of Finance.

“If that comes, the current Managing Director of Ayalolo buses will get a grant of one million euros to be able to augment the fleet,” Mr. Ibrahim added.

The Minister said expanding the Ayalolo bus fleet is critical to improving urban public transportation and easing the burden on commuters, particularly in major cities.