Namibian Police Force Oshana Regional Commander, Commissioner Naftal Lungameni Sakaria said that there is a need for all taxis to be marked for easier identification.

Sakaria made the remarks on Monday in Ongwediva during the official opening of a three-day workshop being facilitated by the Ministry of Works and Transport on public passenger road transportation within municipal or town areas.

The event, which brings together representatives from all municipalities and town councils from the 14 regions, will end on Wednesday.

According to Sakaria, once the taxis are marked, it will help curb crime and reduce illegal activities in the northern part of the country.

‘Our people are being robbed by fake taxis, making it impossible for them to be apprehended as most of them operate at night due to the fear of being detected during the day,’ he said.

‘We don’t have any taxi marking in our northern towns, and anyone can just wake up today and start their taxi business without having to be prevented,’ he added.

Therefore, Sakaria said there is a need for taxi management in their towns.

He added that once the taxis are marked, they will also be able to address the issues that taxis face in their towns more easily.

The workshop is aimed at creating awareness of the draft public passenger road transport bill and its regulation and developing guidelines for the management of road public passenger transport in cities and taxis.

The workshop also aims to inform about the issuance of public carrier permits and developing an incident management system for public transportation.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency