New life and business hopes have begun to emerge in many Kigali restaurants after the government announced the release of taxi motorcycle transportation operations among essiential services that remained closed because of coronavirus.
“Motos are permitted to carry passengers except in Rusizi and Rubavu districts. This follows a recent COVID-19 assessment across the country,” a statement released by Prime Minister Dr Edouard Ngirente on June 3 reads in part.
Restaurants that rely on taxi motorcycle operators eating at their restaurants to stay in business have highly welcomed this news.
For instance, groups of taxi motorcycle operators started flocking in at a popular taxi-moto restaurant this morning – New Vision restaurant in Kimironko field, Gasabo district that has been empty for two months.
Jean Damascene Mvuyekure, co-owner of the New Vision employee restaurant said the restaurant used to get over 300 motorcycle operators per day before the Coronavirus lockdown but this number fell.
“We have been getting less than ten customers and very few moto operators who commonly eat from here in normal circumstances, Mvuyekure said, Now with release of moto operations we have started seeing them returning,” he said.
Small business owners like Mvuyekure said even with the opening of most vital services in Kigali that the coronavirus crisis left them with a lesson of diversification and investment in other services.
“This crisis has taught us to be flexible and being able to rethink of other alternatives, for example during coronavirus lockdown we had to add in other services like supplying bread and outside catering,” Mvuyekure said.
Moto operators who talked to say they came back to eat at this particular restaurant because it’s cheaper and located in a central position that’s easy to navigate.
“A plate of food and meat costs Rwf1000 compared to other restaurants in the city which charge from Rwf1500- Rwf2000 per meal. That is why am here to eat and resume working,” said Gregoire Habiyakure, 50, one of the moto riders.
Like several other restaurants, New Vision restaurant counts on the return of motorcycle operators to remain in business but operators admit it will take time for customers to get used to using metered motorcycle taxis.
All motorcycles permitted to return on the roads have a new meter which is used to charge a passenger for the distance used to ferry. They do have a month to comply, though.
A moto operator clicks on the GPS meter activated to start calculating distance and cost before a passenger hops on a taxi motorcycle.
The passenger is asked to submit the money over a mobile phone at the destination.
“Sometimes you find that it takes time to explain to the passenger,” Jean Baptiste Turikunkiko, a youthful moto rider said.
Meanwhile, the government has said that all restored services must continue to adhere to health authority guidelines (hand hygiene, mask wearing, and social distancing), and all merchants must accept digital payments.
