KCCA gives Taxis, buses 3-day waiver to transport stranded passengers in Kampala.
The Ministry of Transport has given buses and taxis a three-day waiver to transport stranded passengers in Kampala city. This measure is to implement by KCCA.
After the opening of the public transport this week on Thursday, KCCA was ordered by the Ministry of Transport to register all public vehicles before they get back on the roads. In the new registration, taxis were to be given route chats and route numbers before they were allowed to resume business.
Due to various hurdles in the process of registration, this has made parks to have a limited number of vehicles cleared to carry out transport business. Passengers had resorted to sleeping in night parks because of the limited number of vehicles that are meant to transport them to their destinations.
The Kampala Minister, Betty Amongi admitted that the move had left many passengers stranded in taxi parks which made the Ministry give public transport a waiver to transport stranded passengers for three days.
“We have experienced a surge in the number of passengers who would like to travel because they are unable to continue living in the city due to economic impact of coronavirus and the cost of living,” the Minister of Kampala Betty Amongi said.
Betty Amongi also said that the curfew that starts at 7:00 pm and ends at 6:30 am has affected the movement of vehicles especially those plying upcountry routes and this has left many passengers stranded with most of them sleeping in taxi parks.
The Minister also noted that in an attempt to ease the number of passengers in both taxi parks and bus parks, the government decided to give a three-day waiver to allow taxis and buses to transport passengers out of town for three days.
“We have a temporary waiver for public transporters plying upcountry routes who have not yet finalized registration to carry passengers for the period of three days up to Monday, June 8 2020,” the Minister said.
This waiver will be issued by the Resident City Commissioner (RCC) and the KCCA team to any ready vehicle and the passengers going to travel.
The Minister also apologized to the stranded passengers who had failed to reach their intended destinations because of the fewer public transport mains.
“We, therefore, regret to any inconveniency that the passengers have faced,” the Minister said.
Amongi said that the delay had been caused by a combination of factors mainly from taxi drivers and taxi owners.
