2023-08-30 20:00:00
The new government support that will be granted to professionals in the road transport of passengers and goods in Morocco does not seem to have curbed the frustration of the latter. Indeed, it is estimated in the sector that the resumption of aid intended for transport professionals, in the context of the economic situation marked by the rise in fuel prices at the international level, should not stop the calls from the trade union authorities of this sector to a national strike.
And this, although the Ministry of Transport and Logistics can ensure that this support measure is implemented from the first days of September. If we stick to Mounir Benazzouz, secretary general of the National Union of Road Transport Professionals contacted by Hespress, “the question of subsidies is no longer a subject of discussion, given the situation characterized by high prices , emphasizing that the dialogue must focus on fuel“. Benazzouz underlined on the other hand that “the tendency to embody a general strike is an existing option. To do this, the professional bodies in the sector are constantly coordinating with each other to determine the method, the formula and the appropriate moment to launch the movement“.
And the secretary general of the National Union of Road Transport Professionals wonders: “How is it possible for the government to wait for the axle tax (tax imposed on vehicles weighing more than 3 tonnes) to be paid? and which takes place between August 30 and 31? Are they waiting for the professionals to fill in with the Treasury coffers to announce the resumption of support operations? “. Benazzouz stresses in this regard, that “transport professionals refuse to sit down at the sectoral dialogue table to discuss the results related to the years 2022 and 2023, a subject that the Minister of Transport was to address today Wednesday and tomorrow Thursday with unions by expressing the boycott of this meeting“.
The government has decided to resume the payment of subsidies allocated to transport professionals, from the first week of next September. The registration process to obtain additional support for professionals will be launched from Friday 08 September, via the online platform dedicated to the registration of professionals.
The Ministry of Transport and Logistics will also start receiving applications through the aforementioned platform, in accordance with the decision taken by the government in this regard. The government had previously provided direct and exceptional support to road transport professionals to cope with rising fuel prices and thus alleviate the impact on the standard of living of citizens. In total, the Executive exceeded, for the tenth installment, which benefited 180,000 vehicles, more than 5 billion dirhams between March 2022 and March 2023.
Through this “exceptional” support, the government seems to want to mitigate the economic crisis marked by the rise in fuel prices at the international level. This also motivates the resumption of this measure which does not benefit, let us remember, all road users because not all are rolling in gold as the other would say. It seems as if the road transport sector only lives to the rhythm of the demands of professionals, whereas mitigating the surge in fuel prices and its impacts would be a more appropriate solution for everyone.
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