Commercial motorcyclists face penalties over headgear

Kigali City Mayor, Fidel Ndayisaba, has reiterated an earlier directive that commercial motorcyclists make use of hygienic headgear to protect passengers from contracting skin diseases as a result of sharing helmets.Ndayisaba warned that those who pay no heed to the directive risk heavy fines. “We have already communicated and all are aware of that. Once a motorcyclist is caught ferrying a passenger without a hygienic headgear, he will be charged a fine of Rwf 10,000 and lose the passenger.” He added that the police would soon effect the directive. Some motorcyclists who spoke The New Times stated that while they were aware of the directive, they incur extra expenses to buy the headgear yet fares remain unaffected. “I don’t have them (headgear) because they eat into my profits. Authorities oblige us to buy them without raising the transport fare and we end up being the victims,” said a motorcyclist, who preferred anonymity. “Besides, they are not easily available,” he added.Another motorcyclist said: “If they want us to buy them, they (authorities) should subsidise the cost and readily avail them in various areas. They should also increase the fares and communicate it to the public.”Ndayisaba ruled out hiking of fares saying the Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory agency had determined that the cost of the headgear does not affect the profits. He further allayed fears over a shortage of the headgears saying that sufficient supplies would be imported.“Not everything used in Rwanda is found here. They will be imported as motorcycles and other materials are imported. There is no reason for scarcity,” he noted. A Kicukiro resident, Donatien Bugingo, told The New Times that she is always eager to use the headgear but expressed concern some motorcyclists had in the past duped them to use them more than once.“We are ready to use them as long as we get them. The problem we faced recently was that some of motorcyclists wanted us to use them twice or more which caused passengers to somewhat discard them,” she said. According to Ndayisaba, passengers should realise the importance of using the hygienic headgears cautioning that reusing them is also punishable.

National

Commercial motorcyclists face penalties over headgear