Heavy transport drivers' strike in Abyan..a stick that broke the era of collections
English - Sunday 30 October 2022 الساعة 09:32 am
Abyan, NewsYemen, private:
The citizen, "Yasser Bu Mahdi", returned to his home after about 25 days of absence due to his participation in the strike carried out by drivers of heavy transport trucks along the line linking the governorate of Abyan and the capital, Aden, to demand the lifting of illegal levies imposed by some points with huge sums of money.
“Yasser” works in a transportation company, as a truck driver that transports goods between the capital, Aden and the governorates of: Shabwa, Hadramawt and Al-Mahra. He was among the participants in the open strike set up by heavy transport truck drivers in order to pressure the local and governmental authorities to intervene and stop payments to collection points. Which approached one million Yemeni riyals for each truck.
Yasser tells NewsYemen: I have been in my profession as a heavy truck driver for about 15 years, and I did not think one day that I would pay imaginary sums to pass between two governorates only. Before the war, I only paid about 2000 to 3000 riyals for collection fees from Aden governorate to Hadramout governorate. But in recent years, I have been paying about 850 thousand to one million Yemeni riyals.
He added: "Paying these large sums varies from one truck to another and according to the size and also according to the goods it carries, which burdens drivers, transport companies, merchants and owners of goods who compensate for the loss by imposing it on citizens."
After about a month, the open strike was lifted, and the trucks parked on the main lines from Shakra to the entrance to Aden began to move and return to their activity in transporting goods.
A series of meetings held by drivers’ representatives with the local and governmental authorities and the Southern Transitional Council in Abyan governorate, which led to the lifting of their strike after their demand to raise illegal collection points and be satisfied with official points was met.
The agreement stipulated the lifting of all points along the international road, starting from the Al-Mahfad district to the Dofus area, west of the city of Zanzibar, and maintaining specific sites in Shaqra and Dofus, which will undertake the task of collecting the revenues that have been identified as symbolic amounts to be paid as government taxes. The agreement also stipulated that trucks parked during the strike would be allowed to pass without any payment of collection points.
According to the sources, the suspension of the strike came after an agreement between the representatives of truck and locomotive drivers and the deputy director of Abyan security, Colonel Bassam Karda, according to which the fees were reduced to 200,000 riyals distributed over 100,000 for Hassan Point, east of Zanzibar. And 100 thousand distributed over the Wadi Sala and Shaqra point, with 50 thousand for each point.
Raising the collection points contributed to ending the most important problem that a number of greedy merchants used to invoke to impose price increases on foodstuffs and basic needs. Citizens, after the decision to raise points in Abyan, hope that these measures will be matched by a real drop in prices and deter the greed of traders who always take advantage of raising prices under the pretext of amounts. Imaginary collection points cut out along the international line in Abyan.
The success of the heavy transport truck drivers’ strike in Abyan and meeting their demands in raising the collection points, sent a strong message to the truck drivers in the Taiz governorate, which is under the control of the Islah party, and who are subjected to similar levies along the line linking Aden, Lahj, and Taiz.
