AMMAN — The
Syndicate of Owners of Taxi Offices, Internal and External Travel, and Driving
Training Centers has decided to wait until the end of 2022 for the public
transportation subsidy to be disbursed in the capital since the
Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has claimed it does not currently have the budget to provide
the funds.
اضافة اعلان
For months, the syndicate has been requesting that
the municipality hand out the promised subsidy, which has already been
disbursed in other governorates, to no avail. Now, it has given GAM until the
end of the year to pay it out.
Head of the syndicate, Ahmed Abu Haidar, told
Jordan
News: “GAM has not refused to disburse the subsidy, so we are still waiting
for approval on the syndicate’s request for it to be disbursed by the end of
the year.”
The syndicate “will not escalate the matter, given
that the government can find other solutions if GAM is not able to disburse the
public transportation subsidy,” he asserted.
In a meeting of syndicate representatives and the
GAM committees responsible for the subsidy, the latter proposed either raising
public transportation fares or providing direct subsidies to vehicle owners.
Syndicate Vice President
Mohammad Al-Hadid told
Jordan
News: “The syndicate has refused both of these suggestions, as they will
not address the problem, but rather, worsen it.”
He explained that a hike in fares would cause people
to avoid taking public transportation, resorting to ride-sharing applications
instead. Furthermore, “if the subsidy is only disbursed to public transport
operators, then the drivers will not receive anything.”
The public transportation subsidy has been disbursed
in all of the Kingdom’s governorates except for Amman and Aqaba, Hadid noted.
Public transportation in Amman is handled by GAM,
while the
Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority is responsible for the sector
in Aqaba, he said. Public transportation in other governorates is overseen by
the Land Transport Regulatory Commission.
The vice president suggested that all these entities
work together “in order to issue the same decisions for all those operating in
the sector across the Kingdom”.
He added that going on strike would be the sector’s
only alternative if the syndicate’s demands were not met by the end of the
year. “The syndicate has taken all the necessary measures, and it will not
intervene in any escalations,” Hadid said.
Hadid questioned why GAM has not disbursed the
money, given the existence of a transport fund towards which each public
transportation vehicle in Amman pays up to JD200 annually.
The syndicate is “trying its best” to ensure that
the subsidy goes, not to operators, but drivers via bank transfers or gas
vouchers, he said.
In September, GAM spokesman
Nasser Rahamneh said
that the syndicate’s request is “still being studied”.
“When the decision is official, GAM will announce it
immediately,” he said.
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