A day after the government decision to allow short-distance public transport, the transport operators rejected government decision under the current circumstances.
Organising a press meet today, Federation of National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNTE) said that they cannot resume the transportation unless their demands are met.
Putting forth various preconditions for the resumption of public transportation, the Federation asked the government to make provisions for tax waivers, facilitate the implementation of safety precautions onboard public vehicles, and direct banks to allow them to restructure their loans.
“We will not resume public transportation under the current circumstances,” confirmed chairperson of the Federation Yogendra Nath Karmacharya. “The transport entrepreneurs will be able to resume public transportation only after the government addresses our demands including deferral of the bank loan repayment of the lockdown period, exemption from bank loan interest, and lowering of interest on bank loans,” he said, adding that public transportation entrepreneurs have incurred huge losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “It is going to cost us approximately Rs 50,000 to 500,000 per vehicle for maintenance before we can bring our vehicles out on the road.”
During the four months of the lockdown, we had to spend at least Rs 150,000 to 200,000 on maintenance for each vehicle,” the Federation said, adding that they had to spend on the tyres, the battery, and the engine before starting service as the vehicles have remain idle for almost four months.
Hoping that the government will address their demands at the earliest, Karmacharya said that they won't be able to resume public transportation as the operating cost will be high with government recommended safety measures.
He also demanded that the government arrange insurance coverage for the safety of drivers and conductors.
The government yesterday decided to resume public transportation services after huge pressure from the public transport entrepreneurs to allow resuming their service as they are ‘forced to face severe economic hardships due to the prolonged lockdown’. Hundreds of taxi drivers staged a protest in Kathmandu last week demanding the government allow them to resume the service. A parliamentary committee on Wednesday also directed the government to allow taxi operators to resume work.
Some transport entrepreneurs in Pokhara even handed over the keys to the banks, as the banks have been asking them for installment despite the prolonged lockdown. The government had imposed lockdown on Marcy 24 to contain spread of coronavirus (Covid-19). The public transportation has been closed since 109 days.
The government allowed the resumption of public transport within the same district with fifty per cent seating capacity. But the transport entrepreneurs have been asking to hike the fare to double as the operating cost is high, if they follow the safety measures.
The Federation also blamed the government for taking haphazard decision ignoring the costs for public transport operators, and also without consulting them.
“This is gross negligence on the part of the government,” Karmacharya said that they are not going to operate the vehicles and will hand over the keys to the government. “If the government does not fulfil our demands, we will ask the government to repay their bank loans and nationalise our vehicles,” he said, adding that the livelihoods of thousands of people dependent on the transport sector have been affected due to the blanket ban on public transport.
Organising a press meet today, Federation of National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNTE) said that they cannot resume the transportation unless their demands are met.
Putting forth various preconditions for the resumption of public transportation, the Federation asked the government to make provisions for tax waivers, facilitate the implementation of safety precautions onboard public vehicles, and direct banks to allow them to restructure their loans.
“We will not resume public transportation under the current circumstances,” confirmed chairperson of the Federation Yogendra Nath Karmacharya. “The transport entrepreneurs will be able to resume public transportation only after the government addresses our demands including deferral of the bank loan repayment of the lockdown period, exemption from bank loan interest, and lowering of interest on bank loans,” he said, adding that public transportation entrepreneurs have incurred huge losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “It is going to cost us approximately Rs 50,000 to 500,000 per vehicle for maintenance before we can bring our vehicles out on the road.”
During the four months of the lockdown, we had to spend at least Rs 150,000 to 200,000 on maintenance for each vehicle,” the Federation said, adding that they had to spend on the tyres, the battery, and the engine before starting service as the vehicles have remain idle for almost four months.
Hoping that the government will address their demands at the earliest, Karmacharya said that they won't be able to resume public transportation as the operating cost will be high with government recommended safety measures.
He also demanded that the government arrange insurance coverage for the safety of drivers and conductors.
The government yesterday decided to resume public transportation services after huge pressure from the public transport entrepreneurs to allow resuming their service as they are ‘forced to face severe economic hardships due to the prolonged lockdown’. Hundreds of taxi drivers staged a protest in Kathmandu last week demanding the government allow them to resume the service. A parliamentary committee on Wednesday also directed the government to allow taxi operators to resume work.
Some transport entrepreneurs in Pokhara even handed over the keys to the banks, as the banks have been asking them for installment despite the prolonged lockdown. The government had imposed lockdown on Marcy 24 to contain spread of coronavirus (Covid-19). The public transportation has been closed since 109 days.
The government allowed the resumption of public transport within the same district with fifty per cent seating capacity. But the transport entrepreneurs have been asking to hike the fare to double as the operating cost is high, if they follow the safety measures.
The Federation also blamed the government for taking haphazard decision ignoring the costs for public transport operators, and also without consulting them.
“This is gross negligence on the part of the government,” Karmacharya said that they are not going to operate the vehicles and will hand over the keys to the government. “If the government does not fulfil our demands, we will ask the government to repay their bank loans and nationalise our vehicles,” he said, adding that the livelihoods of thousands of people dependent on the transport sector have been affected due to the blanket ban on public transport.
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