Government bans use of tricycles for public transport

A communiqué from the Ministry of Transport also announces an impending clampdown on offenders.

The Ministry of Transport wants to put an end to incidents like what disrupted traffic at the Yaounde Sports Complex on Friday June 26, 2015, whereby a taxi and tricycle driver almost exchanged blows over passengers.

It was an unusual scene with the former battling to add one passenger at the expense of the cab driver who complained against such unfair competition.

The conventional cab driver argued that he was authorised to carry passengers because he pays taxes for his activity. Meanwhile, the tricycle driver apparently wanted to take advantage of the rush hour to fill his pockets.

It is also common place nowadays in Yaounde and other towns in the country to see tricycles transporting goods to markets to the detriment of those authorised to carry out the activity.

The incident came in the wake of a ban by the Minister of Transport on the use of tricycles in cities as a means of public transport. The June 24, 2015 press release of Minister Robert Nkili reminds the public that tricycles are allowed only for the transportation of light parcels.

Faced with the propensity observed in the use of tricycles in urban centres as a means of public transport for persons and goods, Robert Nkili observes in the release that the situation must stop. He has therefore warned that any tricycle found transporting people or goods will be impounded and sent to the administrative garage.

The transport boss warns tricycle owners to respect the law without which their activity will be at stake, saying they do not have enough capacity to transport people or luggage, yet they occupy a lot of road space.

The Director of Road Transport in the Ministry of Transport, Nanga Derphine Eliane Marie épse Mvodo, decries the phenomenon whereby tricycles are spotted at taxi stops hustling for passengers at the expense of cab drivers.

“It is not normal and this manner of doing things must stop,” she stressed. Nanga Derphine explained that they are combating unfair competition.

Tricycles are authorised to transport light parcels. Carrying persons and goods for money is bringing in another form of disorder into the road transport sector,” she affirmed, saying that Yaounde and Douala were good examples.

Tricycles are misused. They are not transport vehicles for human beings, but are meant only for light goods. This is not only a form of unfair competition, but a dangerous means of transport for our citizens, with the three-wheeled motorcycles accused of contributing to road accidents. It adds to disorder, which is already widespread in our towns and must not be tolerated, transport officials hold.

“The activity is illegal and deserves sanctions just like any other activity that is not carried out within the ambits of the law,” Nanga Derphine Eliane Marie pointed out, insisting that order must reign.