The parking lot at Amoronakona bus station is emptying of transport operators and passengers. Yesterday, only a single vehicle occupied the parking area. The vast majority of ticket windows stood empty. Of the eighty transport cooperatives that announced their installation at this facility in June, fewer than a dozen continue to operate the site two months after its opening. Barely established at this station in July, the transport cooperative linking Antananarivo to Andramasina withdrew within days.
Symbolic Presence
Most cooperatives still operating at Amoronakona occupy both this station and the one at Andohatapenaka or the parking at Fasan'ny Karàna in Anosizato. The presence of certain cooperatives remains purely symbolic. "We had departures here at the beginning, but there are none now. To send a package or depart for Fianarantsoa, you have to go to Fasan'ny Karàna," confides a ticket clerk.
Cooperatives justify their departure by citing low passenger traffic. "Passengers are accustomed to the Fasan'ny Karàna parking. Amoronakona is too far for them," explains Hery, a manager at a cooperative operating on RN7. Yet passengers traveling on the southern route complain of making reservations with departures scheduled from Amoronakona, only to be told there were no departures from this station and they had to go to Fasan'ny Karàna. "It's a shame. Even if it's far, we prefer to go there because the site is calm and secure," testifies Angelo Zafitsara, a traveler.
Yesterday, at the boarding site, only a few people from Ambatondrazaka heading to Ambositra were present. The transport operator they had booked with did not collect them. At Fasan'ny Karàna, improvement works are underway to enhance the site.