The Local Police monitor the Maspalomas taxi sector

 

The Local Police of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council and the Department of Transport and Urban Mobility headed by the sixth deputy mayor, José Carlos Álamo Ojeda, have begun to increase random and sporadic controls of road traffic within the municipality with the aim of increasing specific surveillance of the operation of the taxi sector and improving its operation and performance as a public service.

 

 

These almost daily checks at different times and in different locations on the municipal road network have been implemented to assess the correct and legal functioning of this transport system and the safety of its users, after the Maspalomas taxi drivers themselves have reported to the Department of Transport several complaints from citizens alarmed by alleged consumption of alcohol or narcotics by some of their drivers, even while carrying out their activity.

 

During the last surveillance service that the Traffic and Accident Investigation Unit established to control public passenger transport on Thursday 5th, at around seven in the morning, the agents inspected the proper documentation of five taxi drivers who were also subjected to the corresponding technical tests to detect alcohol or drugs. One of them tested positive for cocaine use.

 

The taxi driver in question, a 44-year-old man residing in El Tablero, who showed symptoms of being under the influence of narcotics, with red eyes, dilated pupils, tremors, uncoordinated movements, dark circles, drowsiness and even difficulty speaking, had his vehicle immobilized, which was later taken to the municipal depot, and an administrative complaint was filed against him for serious violation of article 74 of the Municipal Ordinance on Public Passenger Transport and non-compliance with the Road Safety Law.  

 

The complaint has also been sent to the Department of Transport and Mobility of the Gran Canaria Island Council as the administration responsible for deciding the final qualification of the disciplinary file and the corresponding sanction, which could even lead to the disqualification and temporary withdrawal of the taxi license.

 

Concern and security

 

“The concern expressed to the City Council by the taxi sector and its presumption that this anomalous and negligent situation could be spreading, especially among new drivers in the sector, which has been joined by many novice taxi drivers due to the death or retirement of former license holders, is leading the City Council and the Local Police to act with clear force in these controls,” says José Carlos Álamo.

 

“The City Council cannot tolerate or allow in any way that anyone who has the legal responsibility to carry out and perform their job with the maximum guarantees of safety and efficiency, such as taxi drivers, who carry out a public activity under municipal licence and are also a very important figure for the image of the municipality, engage in this type of behaviour. Their negligence poses a potential danger to their own lives and the safety of other people, whether they are the taxi users themselves, other drivers or even pedestrians,” says the Councillor for Security and Emergencies.