PMV owners, managers strike in Lae

By JIMMY KALEBE
PUBLIC Motor Vehicle (PMV) owners and managers in Lae went on strike because fares they are allowed to charge do not meet the cost of their daily operations, they say.
They want the fares raised.
PMV owner Henry Yembi said the fares they were allowed to charge passengers was too low.
“For route 13E and the Back Road area, though we are within the city, the distance does not allow us to charge K1,” he said.
“We then charged K2 and now that the Malahang section of the Busu Road is under construction, we are charging K3.”
Yembi claimed that they had sought approval from the Land Transport Board to charge K2.
He said this came about because fuel, parts, registration and paying the driver and the crew was so high at the moment.
“We have agreed to charge K3 bus fares to cater for the expenses that we encounter in running a PMV service in town,” he said.
“The strike was to get all PMV owners together to get their concerns and present them to the Land Transport Board to see if they can agree with us for the proposed K3 fare.
“This K3 fare will be for a short time only when the Malahang section of the road is closed.”