Namibia Taxi and Transport Union president, Werner Januarie, says that the current Covid-19 regulations that are in force have not been consulted with the transport stakeholders.
“The government and the other affiliated associations have not spoken to me, or anyone from the union. People have approached me about taxi drivers not wearing masks; and I am categorically announcing it here that since the NTTU was not approached about these new regulations, we will not force anything on the drivers.”
Januarie says this as the public transport sector is facing a lot of uncertainty regarding the passenger occupancy that is allowable in the Windhoek specifically.
Due to the alarming situation of Windhoek’s infection rate, the regulations that were announced by the president in last Tuesday’s address, aims to enforce that groupings of people in public spaces are kept to a minimum of ten.
The union president noted with concern that the taxi owners have become inconsiderate by enforcing and placing daily revenue targets on what the drivers have to earn.
“How do you expect a driver to make N$ 400 per day as a target, when the economic situation is so dire at the moment?” he exclaimed.
“These owners are doing the exact same thing that the taxi and transport owners from the south are doing to their drivers! They become inconsiderate, and everyone can see that the economy is down. Where will a driver make N$ 400 a day?”
