Transport fares to go up Friday

The Ministry of Transportation has announced that it has reached a deal with stakeholders to raise transportation fares for all official national routes beginning on January 20, 2023.

The General Transport Union and the Port Transporters Association reached a deal in which they agreed to adopt a new tariff for the nationwide transportation of containers, according to a statement from the ministry. However, neither the nature of the fare increase nor the new tariff were described in detail by the Ministry.

“However, route licensing will be implemented for a variety of national destinations as a condition for the implementation of the fare increase and the new tariffs. The Ministry stated, “This is a scheme that enables vehicles to register and ply a particular route.”

Additionally, it stated that the primary goal of implementing a route licensing program would be to eliminate the practice of charging double or triple fares for various destinations. Vehicles traveling on various routes within the Greater Banjul Area have already received the stickers and permits, and it is anticipated that the program will soon be implemented on all other routes throughout the nation.

The Transport Union and parking lot managers are urged, in light of the preceding, to make certain that drivers adhere to the guidelines for route licensing. We anticipate that the Union and its members will also fulfill their commitment as outlined in the September 2022 Communiqué as the government fulfilled its promise to raise tariffs.

The Ministry would like to make it clear that the road transportation industry will no longer tolerate fares that are doubled or tripled. The transporters will be required to take action if they do not follow the new scheme for licensing routes. The statement came to a conclusion by urging transporters and all stakeholders to adhere to these procedures.