More taxi confusion
NTTU says yes to strike, Nabta says no
Taxi services may be disrupted in the capital today, with the president of the Namibia Transport and Taxi Trade Union (NTTU), Werner Januarie, insisting that members of his union will start a nationwide strike this morning.The strike would have begun yesterday but according to Januarie, there was talk that strikers had to pay the police to be able to strike, about which he sought certainty in writing yesterday.
Despite the fact that no certainty has been provided, he and his members will meet this morning at the Eveline Court flats in Eveline Street, he said.
Meanwhile, the Namibian Bus and Taxi Association (Nabta) said they were not aware of any strike, and encouraged drivers to provide services as normal.
Nabta generally represents taxi owners while NTTU tries to represent the taxi drivers.
Nabta says they are in talks with the government and fuel station owners to persuade the Ministry of Mines and Energy to lift or reduce certain levies on fuel prices.
Nabta agrees that fuel is currently unaffordable. The negotiation continued last week and according to Nabta, talks will continues this week.
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Meanwhile, Nabta is calling on bus and taxi drivers to register with the union.
Nabta said it is implementing a new system that will benefit taxi owners, drivers and passengers. The benefit system was developed in partnership with an investment and insurance company and will, among other things, lead to a reduction in taxi fares by paying owners N$4 per taxi ride for which passengers only pay N$11. This way, owners will collect N$15 per trip, compared to the current N$13 per trip.
Additional benefits include pension benefits, housing allowance and funeral cover, according to the association.
Nabta's national chairman, Magnus Nangombe, did not want to reveal the name of the association's partner, but said the company approached Nabta with the proposal because of the important role the association plays in public transport.
Nabta welcomes the proposal especially because the taxi industry is still suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic in Namibia.
“New things always make people sceptical but there are already those who are willing to join and we ask everyone who wants to benefit from it to subscribe,” he said.
However, membership of the system will not be the same as registering as a member with Nabta, with membership of the association still requiring annual fees, he underlined. – [email protected]