In the wake of the ‘second wave’ of Covid-19, which has forced government to reinvigorate preventive measures, minibus owners have resolved to maintain the current capacity of passengers until government reduces fuel prices for them to remain in business.
The Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 announced on Thursday that it will invoke public health guidelines gazetted last year in order to slow the spread of coronavirus.
But, in an interview on Friday, Minibus Owners Association of Malawi (Moam) acting spokesperson Peter Mvalo said they will not support the capacity reduction measure unless government meets their demands, which include fuel price reduction.
“For us to continue operating and make some profit amid the restrictions, government should reduce fuel prices. We were able to adhere to the restrictions last year because fuel was cheaper than now.
“Secondly, we would like to ask government to request insurance companies to reduce premiums for minibuses. Right now, we pay insurance for 16 passengers. Why should we continue doing this when we will be carrying eight people in our minibuses?” he reasoned.
Mvalo, who is also Moam chairperson for the Southern Region, said they are pushing to meet authorities to submit their grievances.
“At the moment, we have not received any communication and our minibuses are operating with the normal capacity. Until we meet government officials and discuss this, it will be difficult to enforce the restrictions,” he said.
However, at a press conference in Lilongwe on Friday, Ministry of Homeland Security Principal Secretary Kennedy Nkhoma dismissed the fuel hike excuse and insisted on asking minibus owners and other public transport operators to observe the prescribed carrying capacity.
“Lives are more important than fuel. So, the cost of fuel should not be a reason to risk lives,” he said.
Nkhoma, however, promised to engage players in the transport sector to discuss implementation of the guidelines.
The country has been experiencing a rise in Covid-19 cases, with data from Public Health Institute of Malawi (Phim) showing that between Wednesday and Friday last week, the Ministry of Health recorded 712 new cases, a record tally for three days since the pandemic was first reported locally early April last year.
As of Friday, according to the data, there were 7 925 confirmed cases of which 5 802 had recovered; 1 705 were still active and 208 deaths.
The public health guidelines, among others, restrict passenger capacity for minibuses and buses by half and also limit public gatherings to 100.
On December 22 2020, a Moam-planned nationwide strike against sittting capacity forced government to lift the restriction, but not before people witnessing ugly scenes elsewhere.
