In the aftermath of the January 25 Revolution, the issue of safety has been a concern for many Egyptians, and naturally, taxi drivers who roam the streets all hours of the day for a living — a living that has been greatly affected by recent events. But thankfully, the Ministry of Finance seems to have taken notice and issued a statement promising cab drivers compensations for stolen or damaged vehicles and loan extensions for their cars.Momtaz El Saeed, the newly appointed Minister of Finance in Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzoury's cabinet, released a statement last week announcing the replacement of taxis for the drivers whose vehicles had been stolen or damaged since the revolution. To alleviate their debt concerns, El Saeed also promised drivers a deadline extension for the installments due in January, February and March 2012.But not all drivers rejoiced; Cairo-based taxi driver Sherif Ramzy for one did not. “We don't want the deadlines to be postponed,” Ramzy said, explaining that taxi drivers wanted the payments to be cancelled for the whole year. “A whole year's work was ruined,” he grumbled.
Among the many demonstrations reported daily, taxi drivers have made headlines several times in the past year protesting the state of economy, their stolen or damaged cars and unsafe streets. Cabbies continued to protest in the months that followed January 25, as dozens of them gathered in Tahrir on November 15 asking for the tightening of security measures around Cairo.
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But taxi drivers had been suffering long before January 25, having staged several protests at the beginning of 2011 when companies who were involved in the government's scheme to replace old taxis with white cabs in 2009 withdrew their subsidies leaving taxi drivers with outstanding debts to pay to banks for their new cars. Their woes only got increased in the aftermath of the uprising as tourists, one of their major sources of income, fled the country and the overall fluctuating economic state of the country left them facing severe economic — not to mention security — hardships.
Ramzy says that with each new day he worries about roaming the streets of Cairo. He recounts his own nasty experience when he drove a female passenger to her destination to find three men waiting for them and ended up losing his money and his mobile phone. “Thankfully, I was able to get away with my cab,” Ramzy said.et
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