The taxi drivers in Bahrain have threatened to go on strike unless the government eases new rules.

The Public Transportation Society claimed that the livelihoods of 2,000 Bahraini families was at stake as many drivers were unable to compete with private companies and fulfil new rules and regulations.

Society officials met parliament's public utilities and environment affairs committee yesterday to resolve the matter.

'There is a new BD2 million ($5.3 million) private company with 300 taxis coming to the market soon, in addition to two private companies currently in the market,' society president Mohammed Abdulla Isa told a Press conference following the meeting.

'We may lose out because those taxis will take our places at hotels and malls and public places, which means that we will be left on the outskirts.'

'There are around 2,000 families benefiting from existing private taxis and so if we are out of business, our families are out of business too.'

Abdulla claimed that free visa expatriates were being hired by private companies to make more profits by paying lower salaries.

He criticised the new rules introduced by the General Directorate of Traffic released in co-ordination with the Economic Development Board (EDB).

'They want pure white cars, but even car agencies don't have such vehicles, and this forces us to pay more to get them shipped by the agency from abroad,' said Abdulla.

'The rules also state that small cars like Echo and Tiida can't take more than three passengers, but will a family accept going in two cars?

'The sticker we are forced to keep in our cars says in English 'insist on using the metre', while in Arabic it says 'please ask for the metre to be used'.

'For visitors or expatriates we look like thieves, just because the sticker we carry in the car is badly translated.'

He said that they were allowed to have commercial registrations three years ago, but when their licenses expired the directorate refused to renew them due to the new rules.

'Even if we had other businesses, everyone should have the right to diversify their sources of income,' said Abdulla.

He said that rates need to be increased and the three free kilometres rule has to stop.

'The expense of our cars is more than that of our income in most cases, considering that prices have gone up, yet rates have stayed the same,' said Abdulla.

'The Bahrain Development Bank gives fishermen and gardeners loans with three per cent interest, but they give us loans with five per cent interest, which makes us opt to take loans from Bahrain Credit for four per cent.'

He said taxi drivers wanted air-conditioned stations, because staying in uncovered areas under harsh weather conditions was unfair.

'I hope that this happens soon, considering that we are still without a head office with a GPS system,' said Abdulla.

He said the taxi drivers will go on strike if matters were not resolved soon.
'We want the best for this sector too, but if we're getting harmed, than we have to take action and a strike is our option.'

Committee chairman Jawad Fairooz said the general directorate had misinterpreted their agreement on the new rules.

'Officials told the committee earlier that they were doing things according to the EDB's terms, market needs and the opinion of society members,' he said.

'They told us that they listened to drivers and things were arranged according to their views.'

He said parliament would do its best to solve the drivers' problems, promising to finalise things at the committee's meeting with the EDB on Thursday.-TradeArabia News Service