Matatus to start carrying at full capacity from Monday
A matatu which plies Mtito Andei-Nairobi route offloads cargo at Makindu township in Makueni County on April 12, 2021.
The Ministry of Transport on Friday announced that Public Service Vehicles (PSV) will be allowed to carry at full capacity from Monday, August, 9.
Transport Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Chris Obure, during a press conference held at Transcom House in Nairobi, said that the industry had agreed to self-regulate in Covid-19 compliance.
Mr Obure said that the ministry and the matatu industry had agreed to implement strict measures to build confidence that they can allow full capacity while at the same time ensuring continued protection of the passengers against the spread of the rapidly mutating variants of Covid-19.
Existing protocols
“To mitigate the challenges, we reviewed the existing protocols in March this year as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the 4th Presidential address on Coronavirus pandemic on March 12, 2021. This review introduced new measures that were to allow for full capacity but we have not been able to implement the revised protocol because the infection rates have remained high,” he said.
Some of the measures they agreed were that the matatus will be cleaned and disinfected and all passengers will sanitise their hands before boarding.
All passengers will be expected to wear masks properly while all Saccos should have a thermal-guns to check passengers' temperature before boarding.
“Where a passenger’s body temperature will be found to be 37.5°C or higher, checks will be repeated at least once for confirmation purposes,” said Mr Edwin Mukabanah, Chairman, Association of Bus Operators – Kenya and Chairman Federation of Public Transport Sector Association.
The matatu sector has been adversely hit by Covid-19 protocols which prohibited movement between 10pm and 4am. This affected distance transport companies.
On July 30, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe ordered matatu operators not to allow passengers without face masks to board their vehicles.
He raised the alarm over the surging cases of Covid-19 in the country, saying the directive was meant to curb the spread of the virus in public areas.
10 passengers
The public transport sector has been using guidelines provided by the President last year and revised by Transport CS James Macharia. The rules require passengers to wear face masks, sit a metre apart and sanitise before boarding matatus. Matatu owners are to ensure the PSVs are fumigated after every trip.
Currently, a 14-seater matatu carries 10 passengers, up from eight while a 33-seater bus allows 18 passengers including the driver and crew.
While releasing the PSV protocols last year, Mr Macharia said the Covid-19 pandemic had changed the normal way of life.
“All travel shall be in strict conformity with all protocols from the Ministry of health and any additional requirements applicable to the different modes of transport,” he added.
