AMMAN — Tens of drivers who work for ride share application companies like
Careem and
Uber, carried out an hours-long protest Tuesday morning beside the
Ministry of Transport building in Um Uthayna.
اضافة اعلان
Drivers who spoke to
Jordan News, said that they have nine demands that they had submitted to the ministry over a year ago but that hadn’t been addressed, which is why they are protesting.
Among their demands was to extend the operating life of their vehicles to 10 years, reducing the vehicle permit fees to JD200 annually instead of JD400, and allowing them to renew their permits through the Transport Regulatory Authority directly without referring back to their respective companies.
Shareef Al-Muhtaseb, a driver taking part in the protest, told
Jordan News: “We are protesting to claim our rights, we want (people) to stand with us; especially that we are going through hard times after the
COVID-19 pandemic.”
“These companies take more than 30 percent of our daily income,” he said, “although we pay for the fuel, and for fixing the cars if they get damaged. They do not help us, not at all.”
“We might work for a whole day for just JD10,” Muhtaseb said. He said that their companies should feel what they are going through and support them. “We have significant running costs and just a little income — this is unfair,” he added.
Majdi Saafin, another driver, told
Jordan News that drivers have no job security. “If someone submits a frivolous complaint about you, you will lose your job immediately,” he said.
“As drivers, we suffer a lot especially that our job is fraught with danger, besides not having enough income to meet our commitments. It is our right to at least get health insurance or social security,” Saafin said.
Aby Oday, another driver, said he faces huge difficulties finding the JD400 for his vehicle’s permits each year. “There are more than 3,000 drivers who are in debt. If the government does not stand with us or help us, we will be ruined,” he said.
“Not just drivers, but our families and also facing tough times,” Abu Oday said.
Hamza Abu Zaid, another driver, said he had a terrible accident while driving a family, everyone suffered injuries in the crash. “The company compensated the family, but did not give me a piaster. They did pay me for insurance, although the car was totally damaged,” he said. “What can I do now? Who will compensate me?”
Lawrence Rifai, a drivers’ spokesman, told
Jordan News that they had a meeting with the Transport Minister Wajeeh Azaizeh on Tuesday afternoon, and that he promised to meet three of the drivers’ demands, and review the other six demands as soon as possible.
“They have been promising to meet our demands for more than a year and a half, anyway, we will wait and see,” Rifai said. “If they do not keep their promises, we will be carrying out a protest next week. We will not remain silent, because we believe that these are our basic rights.”
Jordan News tried to reach officials at the Ministry of Transport, but could not get any response.
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