DUSHANBE, March 29, 2010, Asia-Plus — Dushanbe authorities’ decision to prohibit the use of the China-made family cars, popularly known as “tangem,” as fixed route taxis is an ill-considered step, local expert Firouz Saidov said.
“Instead of providing people with jobs, the authorities are depriving people of what they obtained by themselves,” said the expert, “The relevant structures should have thought about the tangem owners and their families before prohibiting the use of “tangems” as public transport. They should also think about the city residents. There are areas in Dushanbe, to which the public transport does not run at all and “tangems” have been serving those areas.”
Besides, many tangem owners have bought their vehicles on credit or for money sent by their relatives working as guest workers in Russia and other CIS countries. “Under the conditions of the desperate global financial and economic crisis, all countries of the world are taking measures to preserve jobs, while in our countries, authorities are depriving people of jobs and thereby causing social tension in the country,” Saidov said.
“I realize that tangems are not fit for carrying passengers and their owners not always observe the traffic rules, but all these issue may be regulated,” said Saidov, “Our authorities always pick the most simple way – to put a ban. They think it is always possible to introduce order by putting bans, but in many cases, bans lead to disorders.”
