“The sector is under siege. First the competition bill, now the new transport ordinance. We want to destroy and sell off the sector to the highest bidder which are the multinationals”. This was stated to time.news by the national secretary of Orsa Taxi, Rosario Gallucci, commenting on the new transport ordinance which provides in particular that on the rear seats, to respect the safety distances, no more than two can be transported, spaced as far apart as possible. passengers, if not members of the same family unit; for the driver the obligation to wear a surgical mask or a superior level of personal protective equipment; the installation of dividing bulkheads between driver and passenger.
This ordinance, explains Gallucci, “is surreal”: in recent months, he observes, “we were soliciting easing of restrictions as happened in other sectors such as discos, restaurants and theaters, also because the situation was improving with vaccines. Instead with this one. ordinance the restrictions that already existed are maintained “. The leader of Orsa Taxi observes that in scheduled public transport “there would be restrictions but they are not enforced”. In particular in Naples, he points out, the Alibus, which is the bus that connects the Naples Capodichino airport with Piazza Garibaldi where there is the central station, “is always full and the distances and measures are not respected as they should while we continue to impose restrictions on us while we have been from the beginning of the pandemic one of the categories that has chosen on its own initiative to be included in the privileged categories to make vaccines and thus ensure the safety of our passengers and to support the economic recovery of the country. After 1 year and a half we are back at the transport point “.
This new ordinance, continues Gallucci, “among other things is unclear. The old ordinance provided for no more than two passengers per row. Now with this new ordinance, even the taxi with eight seats will be able to accommodate only 2 passengers? Should this also be clarified? period. If that were the case we would be beyond belief. ” In a year and a half, recalls the leader of Orsa Taxi, “we self-taxed ourselves by sanitizing the vehicle out of our own pocket every time a passenger got off, we put the bulkheads to protect users who, considering the material requested, cost around 800-900 euros. with a refund of only 50%. Once again we hit a sector that asks only to be able to work “. With this trend, explains Gallucci, “we will have to start asking for financial support to support us. We have never asked anyone for anything but it is becoming difficult to continue working”.