Taxi and combi operators want government to explain how workers and businesses will be protected as the TANA electric bus pilot enters the transport market.
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
Public transport operators are demanding assurances from government that the introduction of TANA’s electric bus pilot will not leave drivers, workers and businesses without income.
Botswana Combi and Taxi Association chairperson Kuda Christmas said government must explain how it intends to protect people whose livelihoods could be disrupted by the new service.
Job Security
Speaking to The Botswana Gazette following the launch of the electric bus service, Christmas said the association wanted guarantees against job losses and displacement of people who have depended on the transport industry for years.
He also called for details of any relief measures for workers and businesses that could lose income as the service enters the market.
Livelihood Fears
Christmas said the association’s concerns extended beyond drivers and vehicle owners to the wider public transport value chain, which supports thousands of livelihoods.
He argued that introducing a new transport system should not come at the expense of people who have built their livelihoods around the existing industry.
Transition Plan
The association wants to know whether government has developed a specific transition or relief plan, and what assurances it can offer operators and workers who may lose business to the pilot project.
Christmas said no one should be left behind as government introduces electric buses and that the livelihoods sustained by the existing transport system must be accounted for during the transition.
The demands follow the introduction of TANA’s electric bus pilot, a new development in Botswana’s public transport sector.
At the time of going to press, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Keoagile Atamelang had not responded to The Botswana Gazette’s enquiries.