Seven-seater operators petition govt

Operators of seven-seater taxis in the Kavango East and Kavango West regions have called on government to allow them to transport passengers over long distances within the regions.

Currently, seven-seater taxi operators are not allowed to transport passengers over long distances unless granted a permit to do so over a distance of no more than 55 kilometres, spokesperson of the aggrieved operators, Shamate Paulus, told Nampa on Sunday.

“Transporting up to 55 kilometres does not work, as we are forced to drop passengers halfway and they then have to look for different transport to proceed to their destinations. This becomes costly for them. Why can we not transport people village to village or town to town?” he asked.

Paulus said unemployment prompted the operating of sevenseater taxis.

“This group of people do not want to go to government and beg for a job while they have seven- seater cars at their disposal,” he said.

He called on government to considerchangingthe55-kilometre distance for transporting within the regions.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Works and Transport, Julius Ngweda, said the new draft Bill on transport to replace the existing Transport

Act of 1977 will be tabled in the National Assembly this year.

“The new Bill, once approved by both houses, will answer the concerns that all operators in the transport business have,” Ngweda said.

He said, in the current act, seven-seater taxi drivers are not supported, which will not be the case with the new Bill, as they will be issued with long-distance permits.