Truck drivers protest in EN1: Owners must pay – fines for tyres and missing extinguishers | Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Truck drivers protest in EN1: Owners must pay – fines for tyres and missing extinguishers | Mozambique

1:55 CAT | 02 Oct 2020

Photo: O País

More than 200 truck drivers halted activities on Thursday afternoon on National Road Number 1 (EN1), demanding better working conditions and protesting against alleged illegalities perpetrated by their bosses.

The Bobole area in Marracuene district was the place chosen by the strikers to claim their rights and where, without obstructing traffic, more than 200 trucks lined an estimated three kilometres of the country’s principal highway.

“We are claiming our rights. Our wages are low, and when we make long trips to countries like Zambia, [the owners] give us an allowance of only 3,000 meticais, knowing full well that we spend many days on the road,” president of the Drivers’ Association António Ferro said.

But the truckers’ complaints encompass other aspects of the trade.

“If there is some deficiency in the tires, the fine falls on the drivers [not the owners]. If the traffic police find a fire extinguisher lacking, the fines fall on the driver, not on the owner of the truck. This is not right,” Ferro complained.

Another trucker calls on behalf of the protesters for the problems to be addressed at the highest level.

“We request the presence of the minister of the sector [Janfar Abdulai] and the president of the Mozambican Road Transport Federation [Castigo Nhamane]. They must come and solve these problems,” he said.

Meanwhile, at the behest of the Governor of Maputo Province, the provincial director of transport was dispatched to talk to the protesters.

“We were happy, because the information we received was that there was obstruction and confusion, but when we arrived we found that the protest was peaceful,” he said. “We agreed that we in government would bring the parties together so that there can be constructive dialogue towards the resolution of this dispute.”

The strikers reiterated that would only leave the site once their complaints were addressed.

By Raúl Massingue

Source: O País