Kampala, Uganda | URN | Over 100 conductors attached to Global Bus Company are likely to remain unemployed even when the suspension on public transport is lifted.
Both private and public transport was suspended in March as one of the measures to control the spread of coronavirus disease. However, as President Yoweri Museveni started easing the restrictions, he indicated that buses will only be allowed to carry half of their normal capacity when they return on June 4.
He added that only two people including either the driver and conductor or turn man will be allowed to operate on the bus. According to Ashraf Byamugisha, a driver with Global Bus Company and Chairperson Uganda Bus Drivers Association, the restriction means that almost 110 of the 130 conductors employed by the company will stay home.
Leo Beyaagira, the Director Global Bus Company says priority shall be given to conductors who can multitask as turn-men, adding that the rest will have to wait until the situation normalizes.
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Herbert Asasisira, a conductor with Global Buses Company is worried that people like him who are not equipped with any other skills to multitask shall be cut off.
Emma Wabwire, the Manager YY Coaches and Courier Services says the company shall introduce working shifts to comply with the presidential guidelines.
Conductors will be the latest category of people to be affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. Some lecturers and journalists have since lost their jobs because of the lockdown.
