By Omar Bah
The president of the Gambia Transport Union has said the government agreed to review the proposed fare tariffs by drivers in the country, one of the key demands of his union .
The country’s commercial drivers yesterday threatened to embark on a sit-down strike over lack of garages, fare increase among other demands. The strike was however called off after the drivers’ union reached an agreement with the government who promised to review the fare tariffs in the country.
“A meeting of stakeholders will be called very soon to review the fare tariffs and the implementation will be effective October,” Omar Ceesay told The Standard yesterday.
A statement signed by Interior Minister Yankuba Sonko and president of the Transport Union announcing the cancelling of the strike, reads: “A joint taskforce be setup consisting of all relevant stakeholders, including members of the GTU and relevant ministries and agencies to work out the modalities of a mutually agreed queuing system at the Gambia Ports for implementation by October 2021.The same taskforce now to include the GCCPC will review the proposed fare tariff with a view to introducing a much fairer commuter fare system that will serve the interest of both October 2021 as it is observed that commuters in the Greater Banjul Area are paying multiple fares where they could have been paying one fare.”
The statement further stated that the public will be informed and sensitised about the “outcomes of the reviews and the modalities of the queuing system for public understanding”.
