Taxi Drivers Give President Ultimatum
Members of the Foro Nacional de Taxistas
and the Federación Nacional de Cooperativas de Taxi (Fenacotaxi) have
given Costa Rican President, Abel Pacheco, three days to respond to
their request for a meeting with him to resolve, for one and for all,
the problem with the "informal taxis".
According to Gilberth Ureña, a spokesperson for the taxi drivers, it's
over with the talks and the shuffling of papers since the Dirección
Nacional de Tránsito (DNT), and Ministerio de Obras Públicas y
Transportes (MOPT) have done nothing to resolve the issue.
Informal taxis are those drivers who perform the same service as the
"official" taxis but without a license or permit, taking business away
from the "real" taxis. The controversy has been going on for several
years and several incidents of violence have been reported in the past.
Informal taxi drivers counter that they provide a service that the
official taxis don't, like serving clients in areas like La Carpio where
the "red" cars won't go. They also say that they provide a private
service, where clients can make prior arrangements to be picked up and
be hired for long periods.
Taxi drivers are preparing to take to the streets in demonstrations to
make their point known to the public if the President doesn't meet with
them and offer a solution to the long standing problem.
Ureña added that the meeting with President Pacheco is the last option
available to them and will be forced to paralyze the country if their
demands are met. Ureña said that the mechanism for the strike action is
already in place and ready to implement.
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