The revolution has touched the lives of Egyptians working in various industries. Al-Ahram Weekly listens to some personal accounts Ahmed Hanafi, 42, drives one of Cairo's white taxis. He was one of the benefactors of a project designed to replace the old black and white taxis with new all-white vehicles. Drivers had to trade in their old black and white taxis for LE5,000, regardless of the car make and condition, and receive a loan from the banks participating in the project. At first, the project had not appealed to the drivers because of an average monthly instalment of LE1,300 that had to be paid, depending on the car brand. The Ministry of Finance then announced that it had reached a deal with an advertising company, which would pay LE550 of the monthly instalment in return for displaying ads on the new taxis. But when Hanafi decided to trade in his old taxi and join the apparently successful project in February 2010, he was shocked to discover that the advertising company had pulled out of the project and that taxi drivers participating in the second phase would not enjoy the benefits of the ad. "That meant I had to pay a monthly instalment of LE1,250 instead of LE700, which would not enable me to make any profits, if not lose money," Hanafi recalls. Besides, he added, he had no choice but to participate in the project because the new traffic law does not allow renewing the licence of any taxi that is more than 20 years old, and his was 19. Then the revolution broke out. Taxi drivers were among the most affected and most of them could not pay their monthly instalments for several months. "In the few months that followed the revolution, I could barely raise enough money to feed my family," Hanafi noted. "Since the revolution, there have been more empty taxis and fewer customers." Hanafi, like many other taxi drivers with the same set of problems, demonstrated regularly in front of the Ministry of Finance building in order to press for a quick response to their demands. These include postponing instalments due for the months of February, March, and April. The demands also included that the Ministry of Finance bears the LE550 advertising used to pay to the banks as part of the monthly instalment, as well as re-evaluating their old taxis. The ministry agreed immediately to the demands except for paying back the drivers more than the LE5,000 they agreed to receive in exchange for their old cars. One of the main problems the drivers face in post- revolution work is lack of proper security. Several taxi drivers have reported that their cars were stolen. Some of them were killed and their cars stolen. "It has become a very dangerous and worrying job," Hanafi said, adding that one of his friends was stopped by thugs in a remote area when he was driving a customer to his house, and they took his car in exchange of his life. As a result, hundreds of taxi drivers, including Hanafi, organised a demonstration in Tahrir Square last month to demand the restoration of security in the streets. Despite the tough year, especially to taxi drivers, Hanafi believes that everything will return to normal, including security, once the parliamentary elections are over by March. He hopes things will look even better after the new president is elected in June. Ahmed Kotb By Ahmed Kotb
