By Felix Tjozongoro
ONGWEDIVA – Days after the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (NABTA) announced that it would have patrol officers on the road to enforce the prescribed passenger fares, and ensure that passengers are not overcharged during the festive season, the northern-based Namibia Public Passengers Transport Association (NPPTA) has responded by saying the ‘overcharging’ of passengers is necessary during festive season.
“Our biggest challenge is the fact that at most, our busses have to drive from the North to Windhoek empty, as during December the peak is normally from Windhoek to the North and less people travel to Windhoek. This becomes a loss to the bus owner as his bus travels empty from the North. In order to address this loss, we try to negotiate with the commuters by charging an extra N$50 per person before they board the busses. Most of the commuters would agree to these arrangement due to the shortage of public transport, but once they are on the bus, they would call the Police and report us that we have overcharged them,” NPPTA vice president Paulus Ndimunhu told Woema in Ongwediva this week.
NABTA’s Vespa Muunda had earlier said NABTA would have officials at roadblocks across the country inspecting passenger buses, and ensuring that passengers are charged the correct fare. All long distance bus operators would be required to have with them in the vehicle the official price guide reflecting the price fares approved by the Ministry of Works and Transport. “It is mandatory for all buses to have the price list at all times,” said Muunda. The price list would be found at all bus terminals together with determined prices for both short and long distance transportation. NABTA’s operation starts on 20 December.
NPPTA’s Ndimunhu contradicts NABTA’s decision saying bus operators need to recoup their losses during the festive season.
“Despite the fact that we have agreed rates to charge, we should be allowed the flexibility as we operate within a free-market society too. We don’t force people to board our buses and we merely negotiate on a slightly higher fee as we have cost to cover due to mainly the empty trips from the North to pick up the stranded Windhoekers. Is not this what the free market economy dictates, the issue of shortage and supplies?” said Ndimhunu.
“Our commuters should understand and be informed that during the December rush, we have losses that must be covered. Its not that we want to make extra money and want to get rich quickly. These busses needs to run non-stop to pick up the stranded people in Windhoek. This increases the cost of maintenance, the cost to replace tyres, the cost of overtime for our drivers,” emphasises Ndimunhu.
At the beginning and the end of very festive season Namibian commuters are always found stranded at bus terminals either in the northern part of the country or in Windhoek, because of the shortage of long distance buses.
“We have over the last 12 months acquired an additional 15 long distance busses, and with this we hope that slowly and over a period of time, we will be able to arrest this situation. However, we would not be able to succeed alone, as we need our Government to come to the table and support our initiatives. This is a joint effort and cannot be left to the taxi industry alone,” lamented Ndimunhu.