In a new step towards the beginning of the end of the three-wheeled "tuk-tuk" vehicle, about which a lot of controversy and controversy arose for nearly two decades;
Regarding its benefits on the one hand and its harms on the other hand, the Egyptian government decided to clamp down on it by stopping importing its components.
Last Tuesday, Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Jameh issued Ministerial Decision No. 533 of 2021 to stop importing the basic components of three-wheeled “tuk-tuk” vehicles, including (the base, the chassis and the engine), and described the decision as careful.
The Egyptian government justified the decision, which sparked wide interaction in the Egyptian street between supporters and opponents of it, by saying that it was in order to develop the transportation system and provide safe vehicles to maintain the safety of citizens.
The government and its supporters say that the decision aims to achieve security and safety, and to stop the chaos that spreads in many Egyptian governorates, while its opponents say that the goal is to fight “overkill” and increase unemployment.
The decision is not the first of its kind, and it comes within a series of previous decisions, which were aimed at trying to contain the phenomenon, legalize it, or ban it completely, but all of them failed. The “million tuk-tuk” phenomenon is not legalized, nor is it over, but it does not seem to have been affected.
previous decisions
In September 2019, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the start of a program to replace "tuk-tuk" with safe and licensed cars, but the "Corona" crisis prevented it from starting. In 2014, a ministerial decision was issued to stop importing it.
As part of attempts to legalize the existence of "tuk-tuk", the government resorted in 2008 to imposing a fine of 5,000 pounds on owners of unlicensed vehicles, yet only 10% of tuk-tuk owners applied for licenses.
The new decision did not ban the tuk-tuk
The decision does not mean banning the “tuk-tuk” permanently, even if it began by developing a plan for its disappearance over time, and opened the door to legalizing it through licensing and registering it in traffic units, in order to collect the state’s rights to fees on the one hand, and to stop the chaos of its traffic without identity on the one hand. other.
The Minister of Commerce and Industry indicated that the decision also aims to legalize the conditions of vehicles by granting licenses to vehicles that meet the technical requirements, while studying the availability of financing mechanisms for those wishing to replace the vehicle with a “minivan” that runs on natural gas, similar to the initiative that is currently being implemented for owners cars. The fare and the microbus.
The Minister, in a previous statement last August, acknowledged that it is not possible to prevent the presence of the "tuk-tuk" in the country on the pretext that it is an uncivilized or unsafe means of transportation, explaining that the latest statistics showed that there are about 3 million vehicles in Egypt, which means that there are 3 million families, for whom this "tuktuk" is a source of livelihood.
On June 20, the Prime Minister stressed, during a meeting devoted to discussing procedures for legalizing the status of "tuk-tuk" vehicles and encouraging their owners to license, the importance of facilitating licensing procedures for their owners, pointing out that there are wide benefits from legalization, whether for society or for the owner of "tuk-tuk". The same who will be insured, and will have a pension.
The official spokesman for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Nader Saad, stated that the discussions showed that the number of "tuk-tuk" vehicles that have been licensed so far does not exceed 10% of the total vehicles in 22 governorates nationwide.
From a decision to stop importing it to another to stop issuing its licenses.. "Tuk Tuk" crises are an ongoing show pic.twitter.com/izIG5gNeDq
- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) November 10, 2021
What is the alternative?
At the beginning of this year 2021, the Egyptian government launched an initiative to convert cars to run on natural gas instead of gasoline and diesel, with the participation of government agencies and relevant local and international companies.
There are presidential mandates to expand the base of citizens who benefit from it. Accordingly, the Prime Minister directed the formation of a technical committee headed by the Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade, whose task would be to study the mechanisms for the participation of the tuktuk in the initiative as one of the means of transportation used in Egypt, according to the initiative’s spokesman, Tariq Awad.
affected
Opponents of the decision, whether owners of investments in the "tuk-tuk" industry or those working on it, described it as "disastrous." Mustafa al-Makawi, a member of the General Division of Importers, who owns a factory for complementary spare parts for "tuk-tuk", said that the decision ignores the economic, social and humanitarian dimension of a large segment of workers and dealers with This vehicle.
Makkawi indicated, in press statements, that the estimates of direct and indirect employment in the tuktuk industry exceed 10 million workers, and that the volume of investments in activities related to that industry amounts to 5 billion pounds (a dollar equals 15.7 pounds) in import activities, and about 60 to 80 factories for industries The feeder, other than the assembly activity itself (40% of the parts of the tuktuk are locally manufactured).
In turn, one of the drivers told Al Jazeera Net, "It is not the first time that we have heard about such a decision, and I do not think that the tuk-tuk will stop in our streets, it is like mobile bridges that connect all of Egypt together, support millions of homes, and accommodate millions of unemployed youth, how does it stop? !".
Commenting on the decision, the Ghabbour Auto Group, the main agent of the Indian company "Bajaj", which manufactures this vehicle, said that it is trying to provide alternative solutions to alleviate the expected shortfall in performance, while a member of the company's board of directors, Mansour Qabbani, expected that it would incur about 19 factories that produce components. Local heavy losses.
The tuktuk is accused of being an uncivilized and random means of transportation (Al-Jazeera)
Robbery, harassment and murder
On the other hand, the "tuk-tuk" is accused of being an uncivilized and indiscriminate means, and is used in various crimes on a large scale, ranging from theft and drug dealing, harassment, and even murders, in addition to the difficulty of identifying it due to the lack of license plates for the vast majority of vehicles, so It facilitates the escape of the owner and causes him to be untracked.
He is also accused of the chaos of congestion in the streets and public squares within the governorates and in the capital, Greater Cairo, and the increase in the number of accidents, altercations and daily disputes, and driving in the opposite direction and walking on roads not designated for him, in addition to the fact that about 40% of tuk-tuk drivers are children under the age of 18. And there are those who believe that tuk-tuks encourage acts of "bullying", violence and addiction.
Tuktuk in numbers
Estimates of the number of the "tuk-tuk" vehicle that appeared about two decades ago vary, but it is not less than 3 million at the very least, according to statements by some Egyptian officials, and not more than 5.4 million, according to the advisor of the "Tuk Tak" Owners Association, Sabri Abada. As for the total number of vehicles. According to the data of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, it does not exceed 275,000 only until the end of December.
About 30 million Egyptians depend on the tuk-tuk as a popular, fast, light and fairly cheap means of transportation, capable of carrying people and their goods or heavy loads to any place, whether within cities, villages, narrow neighborhoods, or even between villages and cities as well.
a simple arithmetic;
The average number of “tactics” is about 3 million vehicles, the average revenue is 120 pounds per day, and the annual revenue is about 10 billion and 800 million pounds, and about 3 billion pounds is wasted on the state in the form of wasted licenses and violations, according to a study prepared by the professor of local administration, Dr. Hamdi Arafa. It provides 250,000 job opportunities annually.