Transport strike affects economic activities in Morocco
2007-04-05
With no compromise in sight between transport unions and the government, Morocco's transport strike continues to be a serious obstacle to economic activities.
By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 05/04/2007
 [Hassan Benmehdi] Taxi drivers on strike |
Morocco's transport workers went on strike again on Tuesday (April 3rd) after failing to reach agreement with authorities on a controversial road safety bill. Last month, commercial drivers across the country went on strike to protest a proposed law which would impose harsh penalties on traffic law violators. The strike was temporarily called off on March 15th after transport minister Karim Ghellab invited the strikers to take part in talks.
The proposed bill allows the government to confiscate driving licenses, impound vehicles, levy hefty fines and even imprison drivers in the event of an accident.
Despite numerous meetings between the Transport Ministry and unions such as the Transportation Confederated Professionals Union and the Syndicated Council of Transport Workers and Travellers, the strike has dragged on.
Faced with the unavailability of taxis and buses, travellers in both urban and rural areas have been paying exorbitant prices for non-approved carriers. According to managers in the key ports of Casablanca and Kenitra, the lack of lorries is delaying the delivery of goods. The prices of vegetables, fruit and basic foodstuffs have risen steadily and many observers feel the situation could worsen over the next few days.
Speaking with Magharebia, one of the striking taxi drivers on the Route Ouled Ziane in Casablanca said that road accidents could not be reduced by raising the bar on fines. "It would be perfectly understandable for all motorists to take part in our strike, as the new laws will affect them just as much," he declared.
El Bouzid Khallouf, who is in his fifties and owns a lorry, thinks this new law will have to be revised before it can be adopted. "This move to take away drivers’ licences is only likely to encourage even more corruption. We don’t want to be bribing the police and traffic officers to be able to drive around in peace." Yassine, a Casablanca taxi driver, feels that confiscating driving licences poses a real threat to the profession. "Given the mediocre earnings we receive each month, we refuse to be deprived of our licences every now and then for mistakes we rarely, if ever, make."
Berrada Abdelghani, Secretary-General of the National Transport Association, stressed in a statement that the bill requires a few changes which take workers’ interests into consideration.
While waiting for a solution to the conflict, unionists say they are prepared to continue the strike until they get their message across. In their view, the fight against road traffic accidents should be directed not at repressing drivers, but at raising traffic control standards and improving the social and pay conditions for those working in the transport sector.
Transport Minister Karim Ghellab insisted that he will not give in to what he termed as blackmail. He stated that his aim is to make the roads safer by reducing the "slaughter" taking place on Morocco’s highways.
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Rajaa Posted 2007-04-05
Correct and clear.
imad Posted 2007-04-05
No to this new traffic regulation.
Claude Posted 2007-04-06
Hi, i am a Swiss living in Morocco, and i support this strike in the transportation field. For me, some things have to be reviewed: 1) driving licence conditions (education, behavior, deeper knowledge of regulations). 2) Practical driving capacity. 3) Better signals, road condition, information campaigns.
فرجاني عبد الله Posted 2007-04-06
I'm the deputy Secretary-General of the Transporters Association of Lakhmessit. The Minister has to plan carefully before taking any decision- we think that things will be worsened if the strike is carried on for a long period.
Bennani Younes Posted 2007-04-06
What the transport system in Morocco needs is common sense among the drivers. They can avoid any fine, heavy or light, by respecting the road code. When drivers are immune to blackmail from the police and traffic officers. These won't feel encouraged to take bribes if the drivers themselves take care of their vehicles, do not overload the buses with people and lorries with goods. For the transport everybody is to blame. The government isn't building enough standard roads, drivers are neglectful. In this chaos, the police and traffic officers find a breeding ground to take as much as bribe as possible for the roads to keep streaming with vehicles till the drivers and passengers get to their final destination safe or in stretches and when the worst comes to the worst they're taken in zipped bags.
خديجة من السعودية Posted 2007-04-06
Morocco is known for corruption, this is what I want to say thanks
الراوي Posted 2007-04-06
The Minister should have elaborated the Road Law from the Moroccan minds respecting the surrounding conditions, and not bring it from a foreign country which is totally different from the Moroccan conditions and the equipments of the Swedish state. Unfortunately, the minister and all the government should have tackled the real causes of accidents by repairing the roads, forbidding alcohol and activating the role of road control in a serious way, ban bribery and other major causes hindering the development of Morocco in general.
Beekeeper Posted 2007-04-07
Salaam. I think there is no reason to support this strike. The aim has to be something else than postponing or demanding some delay for this new trafic regulation. I believe the new fines forseen by this new regulation should be stronger. Who could possibly think that jumping the red light can remain unpunished, especially if in doing so, someone is killed or invalidated... Trust me, my dear friend, i support this idea. Things get tricky when it comes to enforce this law. Some talk about a step up in "tedouira". Some security agent tells you that violating the law will cost you 400 dirhams, it's up to you: give him 200. With the new law, he will tell you it will cost you 4,000, give him 2,000 or you'll go to jail. Give him all you could save so far, or your good fortune will turn its back on you. But worse still, sometimes, you get arrested for things that are only the product of their imagination. If you are lucky enough to be one of the "lucky ones" (i will define them later), then the law, trafic regulation, etc., does not apply to you. I think death would be a better solution, if it would aim at stopping us from being raped by those security officers at each street corner. We want to be able to travel without those. Damages would not be worse, at least we would be responsible. It is bitter, hard, all you want... But we are citizens enough to know that it happens so. We all experience it, but the "lucky ones"...
amarir Posted 2007-04-08
I find your articles very interesting and wish you good luck for the future.
raoul Posted 2007-04-08
I think the Minister of Transport wants to protect Moroccans against this war on the roads. Before doing so, he has to make a serious decision regarding all those bumps on Moroccan roads, that make us Moroccans think we are driving on mountain roads.
rachid jabri Posted 2007-04-08
Salaam. I think the strike in the transport sector is a green march. We must carry on, as long as needed, because the Minister of Transport knows nothing about the social status of Moroccan commercial drivers. He does what he wants, far from Moroccan reality of things. Thanks.
Abdelghani Posted 2007-04-08
The solution does not lie in increasing fines or instituting new laws on drivers. but rather to tackle the problem at its roots, by imposing harsh fines and punishement on the corrupted officers of the law, who have put their personal gain ahead of justice and the wellbeing of the citizens and their safety. The problem is that most drivers ( if not all) who commit traffic infractions, already go un-fined because of the dire corruption situation choking morocco at all fronts. Fight corruption! and everything will fall into place. The new initiative will not help anybody but the corrupted officers, who will welcome this move as a booster for their illigitimate dialy activities. The corruption plague is staring at us right in the face everywhere we go, but nobody seems to want to do anything about it. when ever it is brought up, everybody seems to turn the other way which makes me wonder sometimes if it is not really part of the so called "Policies". The safety of moroccan roads has gone to hell, because it is in the hands of demons.
نورالدين لطفي Posted 2007-04-10
Repair the roads. Increase the wages of controllers and thus impose high fines on controllers who fail in their responsibility.
BARIYO Posted 2007-04-11
The minister should examine how to organize the way pedestrians cross the road; how to qualify trafic agents or gendarmes so that they don't behave unjustly to people, and....etc.
BEN Posted 2007-04-12
Morocco must immediately commence a reform of the ministries of interior and transport. It is suicidal to continue managing the country with a system that doesn't respond to new needs, and in a spirit of absolute civicism. Seriously its future
محمد Posted 2007-04-23
Thanks to God and for the first time a young enthusiastic and volunteer minister stops the premeditated killing on Moroccan roads. The world has changed and the lobby owners of the outdated buses are behind the strike or who is paying the wages of strikers. This is like the lobby of buses in Tetouan they offered foreign companies to organize public transport in the city claiming that they will respect the new specifications and they have dumped the city with buses imported from abroad as they are banned from traffic in European countries, the buses have no stopping system or determined stations or schedule, their only concern is to carry crowds of passengers and cut the livelihood of taxi owners,... compounding the catastrophe. I support this courageous minister because he understood the situation and he hasn't brought the new law from the moon but countries that want reform should go through this law and cut the roads on the lobby who's only concerned about profit at the expense of people. I ask God to grant him success against the lobby gangs and to increase people like him. May God grant long life to our young king concerned about his people.
لحسن Posted 2008-04-14
People like you, Mr Minister, are what our country needs. That is how all our ministers should be. But firmness in decisions should start from the beginning and in all ministries. Then you will notice improvement in everything without having to choose an increase in fines, unless the aim is the fines and not reform.
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