Toktoks' licenses to be limited

CAIRO- 3 December 2018:“We have to curb the toktok phenomenon by preventing its spread in largest cities and large streets,and limiting them to the country side and populous districts,” MP Hala Abul-Saad of the Small and Medium Enterprises Committee stated.

The MP added thattoktok is the poor's means of transportation; we can limit spreading it through providing economical support to youth, enabling them to establish private projects and avoid working on toktoks.

In this regard, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said: “Our country welcomes the use of toktok as a means of transportation in some areas; however,modern studies warn against the excessive use of toktok as it distracts the underage away from taking serious jobs that achieve development and build the country.”

Toktokhas become real threat as it attracts children to work as drivers and spend money they gain unwisely on drugs and alcohol; additionally, it threatens the existenceof some crafts that workers abandoned to work as toktok drivers.

Minister of Local Development,Mahmoud Shaarawi, gave licenses to 222,000 toktoks in different governorates,assuring that the ministry is still getting more requests for licenses but issuing such licenses has been halted as per the instructions of the prime minster.

"We import spare parts of toktoks to manufacture them in Egypt," Shaarawi told Egypt Today, explaining that toktok licenses are given according to the rules of the Traffic Administration.

Furthermore, the minister of local development affirmed that the license costsL.E 360 and itsrenewalcosts L.E 140 annually.