Striking matatu operators at the Kenyatta Avenue-Uhuru Highway
roundabout in Nairobi on March 5, 2014. The Matatu Welfare Association
has warned commuters to find alternative means of transport to get to
the Nairobi city centre beginning March 21, 2016 saying they will go on
strike until Kidero rescinds order to ban them from the CBD. PHOTO |
FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Matatu Welfare Association has threatened to paralyse all
means of transportation in Nairobi beginning Thursday until the Nairobi
governor rescinds his directive to cancel all matatu parking permits in
the city centre.
Governor Evans Kidero said Wednesday that the permits would be cancelled
after shop owners said they would not pay taxes to the county
government because most of the space outside their premises had been
turned into parking lots.
The
association’s chairman, Mr Dickson Mbugua, said the peaceful
demonstration would start early Thursday morning and they would not
allow any vehicle, including private cars and taxis, to enter the city
centre.
Mr Mbugua said the disruption
would go on until the governor calls off the directive revoking the
parking permits, which they said they have already paid for.
“We
pay Sh7,250 per vehicle every month for a parking permit to City Hall
and the governor thinks we do not contribute to revenues in this city,”
quipped Mr Mbugua.
He claimed that
the county government earns Sh10 billion from the matatu industry
annually compared with the Sh 30million the city collects from traders
as licenses.
Dr Kidero said he would
order the cancellation of the parking permits in a bid to ease
congestion in the city, adding that they would be issued afresh.
REPAIR ROADS
In addition, the matatu operators demanded that the county government repair all roads in the city or they would not pay taxes.
“If
traders are exempted from paying taxes because customers are shying
away from their business, let us also not pay for the licences until all
roads are repaired,” said Mr Mbugua.
Furthermore,
Mr Mbugua called upon the governor to account for all the money he has
been collecting from the transport sector citing that roads in the city
have never been repaired.
However,
the Nairobi County Transport Executive Mohamed Abdulahi said that
picking and dropping of passengers at undesignated places had led to the
congestion and disorganisation in the city centre.
“We
have only five legal bus termini that include Koja, Bus Station,
Muthurwa, Railways and Harakati that every matatu operator knows about.
All those others you see are illegal,” said Mr Mohamed.
Mr
Mohamed said that the removal of the PSVs at the two illegal termini
will be done diplomatically and officers have already been deployed at
both Gill House and Ronald Ngala to remove the them.
“We
do not want chaos and drama during the crackdown. What we want is
diplomacy from our officers and to tell the matatus that there is no
picking and dropping of passengers at these illegal stages,” added Mr
Mohamed.
He said that over 70 per cent of public service vehicles operating in the CBD are using fake parking permits.
Additionally,
the transport executive reaffirmed the county bosses’ directive that
they will revoke all permits and start a new registration process to
wipe out fake parking licences.
The
county operations to wipe out illegal stages started Wednesday and saw
several matatus that pick passengers at Gill House towed to various City
Hall yards.
The owners of the towed vehicles will have to part with penalties ranging between Sh5,000 and Sh10,000 to get them back.
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