Nouakchott – Iffco Mohamed Lamine is a young man in his thirties who lives with his father (a guard worker) in a modest house in the northwestern part of the capital Nouakchott, next to state institutions, service administrations, famous restaurants, supermarkets and parks, which are the destination of thousands of residents of the capital.
Ifco has been working as a tuktuk driver for four years, practicing transportation and delivery between short lines in the province of Tafraq Zeina, a neighborhood inhabited by the upper classes, where his daily income was more than 4,1300 ounces ($36 according to the new Mauritanian currency), and despite the fragility, these conditions were ideal for him.
However, the Ministry of Transport recently submitted a new plan to regulate urban transport in Nouakchott, including banning tricycles from entering the center of the capital permanently, where central markets, banks and ministries are located, and after implementing this decision last week, IFFCO found itself isolated from its main source of income in vital areas, and its conditions have reversed, as its income has now fallen to 100 or 200 ounces (between $3 and $6).
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Iffco says after the last decision my work stopped and I no longer respond to repeated customer calls, "We were greatly affected, we asked the state to retract the decision and did not do, we cannot resist the authorities, so we are still at a loss waiting."
IFFCO is no better off than the hundreds of hardworking young people who have become lost after the authorities cornered them in marginal neighborhoods, deprived them of vital neighborhoods, and chased them everywhere, until many of them left work and rested.
Ministry of Transport: Chaos disrupted the city center, after it became a favorite destination for all more than 2600,<> tuk-tuks (Al Jazeera)
Injustice and harassment
Measures that some civil organizations considered an injustice and a restriction on vulnerable labor groups who already suffer from lack of opportunities, weak purchasing power and high prices, and drivers considered it an unfair decision that pushes them to homelessness in their homelands and practice dishonest work, and encourages them to emigrate, calling on the state to reverse the decision.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Ibrahim Bilal, Ramadan head of the Coast Commission for Human Rights, says that the decision is unfair and unfair to the owners of vehicles that provide living for a large number of vulnerable citizens, and facilitate citizens to move, considering that limiting their movement will lead to a high rate of unemployment, as well as exacerbating the problems of urban transport, which these vehicles contributed significantly to alleviating.
According to Ould Ramadan, banning these vehicles from entering vital neighborhoods is an unpalatable step that was built on an unclear basis, especially since the state did not offer an alternative to the owners of the vehicles who were affected by this decision.
Tuktuk Samba driver: I couldn't pay a thousand ounces ($28) rent for my house and became threatened with eviction (Al Jazeera)
Official justification
On the other hand, the Ministry of Transport says that this decision came within the framework of a comprehensive plan for the various means of transport to have an integrated role between them, where the three-wheeled vehicles are at the ends, the taxi is in the middle, while the buses are in the main lines.
The ministry explained its decision that the city center was disrupted by the chaos and traffic congestion, which increased after it became a preferred destination for all more than 2600,<> tuk-tuks, in addition to other means of transportation.
Government spokesman Nani Ould Achrouga confirmed that the reason for the decision is that these vehicles do not meet safety conditions, their drivers do not hold a driver's license, do not know traffic laws, and cause many accidents.
Protest in vain
While the decision sparked widespread controversy in Mauritania and people were divided between supporters and opponents, hundreds of tuktuk drivers staged protests calling on the authorities to reverse the decision, but to no avail, as the authorities are still holding more than 300 vehicles that violated the decision, and say that the fine for retrieving them is two thousand ounces ($56).
Mohamed Mahmoud, an affected tuktuk driver, says dozens of hired drivers and even landlords have left work permanently and sat at home where there are no alternatives for them.
The number of vehicles targeted by this decision is approximately 3,500 active in Nouakchott, more than half of which are owned by traders and businessmen who rent them to drivers at about <> ounces per day, but tenants today refuse to work with the old prices as long as the decision is in force, demanding from the owners to reduce because the work has become very weak.
Although the authorities are determined not to reverse the decision, the Tuktuk drivers have not yet lost hope, and continue to repeatedly express their suffering and severe damage and appeal to the state to reverse the decision.
Mauritanian authorities detain more than 300 vehicles that violated the decision, say fine for retrieving 20,56 ounces ($<>) (Al Jazeera)
Exacerbation of suffering
After recounting his suffering, Al Jazeera Net escorted 35-year-old tuktuk driver Samba to his residence in the district of "Ksar" in Nouakchott West.
He explained that his wife and three children are threatened by hunger and have become vulnerable, and the street may soon be the fate of his little girl and her brothers, as Sambah was unable this month to pay the rent of the "wall" that he rented months ago and built a modest throne, to keep his young from the heat of the summer sun and the cold of winter.
"Debts started to accumulate after this decision ruined my work, my family spares nothing, and yesterday I couldn't pay a thousand ounces ($28) for the wall I live in, and its owner gave me one more month, and if I didn't pay, he would kick me.
Samba added – who became confused – that he no longer receives the daily rent of his vehicle on some days, and has become thinking of leaving work and returning the vehicle to its owner, adding with regret that he did not find these days money to send to his mother, who left him in the desert on the outskirts of "Brakna" about 300 kilometers from Nouakchott, and he is alone and has no other breadwinner.
Although the owner of the Samba cart reduced his daily fare to 300 ounces, this did not change anything, because the work, according to him, has become exhausting with these long lines and extremely weak.
Therefore, the tuktuk drivers interviewed by Al Jazeera agree that if the state does not reverse this decision, they will leave work even if they do not find an alternative.