Motor mechanics in Warri, Delta State, have decried a significant drop in patronage for their services.

The mechanics spoke in separate interviews on Saturday.

They attributed the development to the increases in the petroleum pump prices.

The artisans said it was unfortunate that fewer vehicles were now on the roads compared to the past, adding that this meant fewer vehicles breaking down.

A self-acclaimed Japanese cars specialist, Desmond Ojo, said that he hardly gets three cars to repair in a day.

He said, “We are suffering. Before now I used to have cars lined up waiting for repair in my workshop. But now, you can see that the whole workshop is empty. Nobody comrd to repair their vehicles because many people hardly drive nowadays.”

Another mechanic, Ernest Ehigie, also said that the situation was biting harder on their trade.

According to him, no motor mechanic can boast of making good returns nowadays because of the low patronage.

He said, “We are just managing to survive the current situation in the country hoping that things will become better again. Before now, we used to smile on a daily basis because we always had enough vehicles to repair. Nowadays, sometimes, I can barely get a car to repair in a day.’’

In the same vein, Efe Odeya attributed the low patronage to the inability of car owners to drive their vehicles due to the high cost of fuel.

Mr Odeya said, “It is only when you have money that you will drive cars nowadays and if you don’t drive the car will not develop fault so you wouldn’t need to repair it.’’

Odeya said many car owners had resolved to park their cars and take to public transportation to cut costs.

Friday Tejiri appealed to the Federal Government to do the needful and work out modalities to effectively cushion the impact of the subsidy removal on the people.

According to him, the initiative will help to ease the prevailing economic crisis in the country.

“People are really suffering. This colleague of mine is an automobile painter. He has been idle in the past three weeks, no job and he has a family,” he said.

Fuel pump price ranges between N1,150 and N1,300 per litre in some of the retail outlets in the Warri metropolis.

(NAN)