“The impact is negative, because it is something that we did not expect to arrive in the way it did, we unfortunately were not even called to give our point of view”, said this Thursday the president of Amotrang, Bento Rafael, in statements to Lusa.
Amotrang, which currently has more than 20 thousand motorcycle taxi drivers in Luanda alone, regrets not having been heard because “we have a way of thinking about the matter if these measures were really taken in order to reduce the levels of road accidents”, he noted.
“We also have an opinion because we live with these motorcycle taxi professionals and we have our own opinion”, said the person in charge, arguing that professionals in the sector should be subdivided into classes.
According to Bento Rafael, the need to subdivide motorcycle taxi drivers by class has been presented to the authorities for some time, “but unfortunately we were not called, we were not considered”.
“Perhaps the matter was treated with so much secrecy and we, unfortunately, don't know why, we have an opinion and we should at least be heard”, he insisted.
The Provincial Government of Luanda banned the circulation of motorcycles on some of the capital's main roads with the aim of improving circulation and reducing accidents, which totaled 768 in the first half of the year.
Thousands of citizens in Luanda use motorcycle taxis to get to the city center or even to more distant areas on the outskirts, where the traditional “blue and white” cars do not travel.
Bento Rafael reaffirms that the measure taken by the Luanda authorities is negative and it will be analyzed on Friday during a meeting with all the leaders of the motorcycle taxi drivers, at the headquarters of Amotrang, in the municipality of Cacuaco.
The person in charge said that the association “is open to dialogue and is not in favor of any manifestation” of protest against the measure.
“On our side there is still no intention (of demonstrating), because we think we should listen to the people who are closest to the motorcycle taxi drivers and, even so, we should officially state the problems, what we will hear tomorrow [Friday], at governance”, he highlighted.
Asked about fuel subsidy cards for the class in this sector, Bento Rafael said that the matter is still unresolved as there is “total disorganization” in the municipal administrations that have the mission of licensing and assigning the respective cards.
Since last June 1st, a liter of gasoline costs 300 kwanzas compared to the previous 160 kwanzas, with the Government guaranteeing that the fares for taxi drivers, motorcycle taxi drivers, those in the agricultural and fishing sectors would be subsidized.
Regarding motorcycle taxi drivers, Bento Rafael said there is total disorganization “because many of the cards that are in certain administrations do not even belong to these administrations, they were not licensed in these administrations”.
