Day: July 15, 2024

Namibian Police Force Oshana Regional Commander, Commissioner Naftal Lungameni Sakaria said that there is a need for all taxis to be marked for easier identification.

Sakaria made the remarks on Monday in Ongwediva during the official opening of a three-day workshop being facilitated by the Ministry of Works and Transport on public passenger road transportation within municipal or town areas.

The event, which brings together representatives from all municipalities and town councils from the 14 regions, will end on Wednesday.

According to Sakaria, once the taxis are marked, it will help curb crime and reduce illegal activities in the northern part of the country.

‘Our people are being robbed by fake taxis, making it impossible for them to be apprehended as most of them operate at night due to the fear of being detected during the day,’ he said.

‘We don’t have any taxi marking in our northern towns, and anyone can just wake up today and start their taxi business without having to be prevented,’ he added.

Therefore, Sakaria said there is a need for taxi management in their towns.

He added that once the taxis are marked, they will also be able to address the issues that taxis face in their towns more easily.

The workshop is aimed at creating awareness of the draft public passenger road transport bill and its regulation and developing guidelines for the management of road public passenger transport in cities and taxis.

The workshop also aims to inform about the issuance of public carrier permits and developing an incident management system for public transportation.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Electronic-hailing (e-hailing) taxi service provider, Lefa Transportation, has threatened legal action against the Windhoek City Police, the Namibia Tourism Board and the Namibian Police Force for allegedly failing to take action against two other e-taxi service operators, Yango and Indrive.

Drivers belonging to these two companies, Lefa said, are openly violating the laws regulating the transport industry in Namibia.

In a letter of demand dated 15 July 2024, Lefa, represented by lawyer Appolos Shimakeleni, said Yango and Indrive are violating the Road Transportation Act, 1977 (Act 74 of 1977) and the Namibian Tourism Board (Act 21 of 2000), in that they do not incur the costs required for the requisite transport permits. Lefa Transportation also claims that drivers operating under the two companies charge ‘ridiculously low amounts’ to customers.

‘It is our instructions that our client has in the past engaged your office, as well as other relevant stakeholders. Despite the several engagements and
demands, nothing has been done and our client has therefore approached our office to take legal action. Our client has also addressed a complaint to the Competition Commission on 26 April 2024,’ Shimakeleni said.

According to him, a petition signed by 64 transport operators was also submitted.

‘This is not only a violation, but it also undermines the efforts of legitimate operators who are trying, at a great financial cost, to comply with the regulations and provide a safe and reliable service to the public,’ the letter noted.

Branded and unbranded Yango and InDrive vehicles, he added, do not have taxi identification numbers or operator discs and/or road carried permit and/or NTB discs making them pirate taxis or shuttles.

Speaking to Nampa on Monday, City Police Chief, Leevi Ileka said he is not aware of the letter of demand. He however said that they have received a lot of complaints regarding the issue. According to him, a conference addressing the issue is underway at Ongwediva, organised by the Minis
try of Works and Transport for law enforcement agencies.

‘It started today and will end on Wednesday. It is aimed at discussing modalities on how to regulate these vehicles. All public transporters ought to be registered with us. We are aware that some of these cars are used for crime and at the moment it is difficult to trace them,’ Ileka said.

Meanwhile, NTB Acting Chief Executive Officer, Bonny Mbidzo, said the NTB is not the regulator of roads, adding that Lefa’s threat is misdirected.

‘When the NTB Act was formulated no one knew there will be such a platform. NTB doesn’t regulate the roads. When you have any paying client in your vehicle you need to have the public carrier permit. In municipal areas you must be registered by that municipality. None of this pertains to the NTB. E-hailing is not a Namibian situation alone. We have seen issues about this service in South Africa for example. We just have to make sure our law enforcers are on the road. These vehicles are not easy to identify as they are no
t marked. We are not the competent authority to be sued,’ he added.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta has expressed delight at the increase in the number of travelers that visited Namibia in the past year.

Launching Namibia’s Tourism Statistics Report for 2023 on Monday in the capital, Shifeta noted that the industry has made an impressive recovery following the devastating impact of COVID-19.

He reported that Namibia received 863, 872 international tourist arrivals in 2023, compared to 461,027 recorded in 2022.

‘The year 2023 proved to be a good year with regard to the tourist arrivals. It has been a significant recovery after the negative effect of COVID-19 on international tourist arrivals,’ Shifeta said.

He said that the notable increase demonstrates that the demand for Namibia as a tourist destination for visitors is steadily growing. The minister added that last year’s figures represent a 54 per cent recovery level towards tourist arrival numbers of the time before COVID-19.

South Africa remains the biggest tourist source mar
ket for Namibia in Africa. Angola, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe form part of the top African visitors. Abroad, Germany continues to dominate the overseas market, followed by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands.

Shifeta said that the majority of visitors, or 36.8 per cent of the total inbound tourists, came to Namibia between September and December of 2023. He added that 31.9 per cent arrived between May to August and 31.4 per cent between January to April 2023.

The ministry is implementing the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan that sets out a framework for a strategic approach to tourism policy intervention, according to Shifeta.

‘While we celebrate our successes of 2023, the tourism sector must also acknowledge the challenges we face today. The global economic landscape, climate change, and occasional security concerns continue to impact our tourism industry. However, we are committed to addressing these challenges as Government, of course in partnership with all stakeholders,’
he said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency