IF you’re wondering where all the Karwa taxis have gone, try the Mowasalat’s head office in the Abu Hamour area, where more than half of the near 1,500 cabs that were earlier operational are parked throughout the day as a large number of Karwa drivers have been temporarily transferred to the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (Dagoc).
"No more than 300 Karwa taxis are running on the roads at the moment," revealed a Karwa taxi driver, who has been with the public transport company ever since it was launched two years ago. The driver added that he is one of the about 2,000 Mowasalat drivers who are now "under training" for driving around the guests for the Doha Asian Games that kick off on December 1.
He said: "We are picked up in buses and taken straight to the Dagoc office. One car is given to four drivers, and we are given a route map. All we are told to do is drive on that route for 12 hours, from one stadium to the other, so that we get used to the roads and know how much time it would take from one place to the other. That’s our daily drill."
Over the past few weeks Mowasalat has been repeatedly denying that any of the current "1,470" Karwa taxis, operational in and around Doha, has been taken off the roads due to shortage of drivers.
"We have sent a number of drivers to work for the Dagoc, but we have more than enough left to drive the existing regular taxis," officials had said earlier.
But there have been complaints galore that the waiting time to find a cab, which was any way long before, had gotten even longer over the past few days.
"Leave alone finding a cab, there are only a few Karwa taxis seen on the roads nowadays," said a Kenyan resident.
In fact, the 200-odd orange-and-white taxis, that were to go off the roads last week and had a last-minute deadline extension till January 2007, are seen more frequently these days.
A Gulf Times team that visited the public transport company’s head office in Abu Hamour at 10am yesterday, counted a whopping 909 Karwa taxis just parked in the company’s sprawling parking area.
Another 150-odd taxis, covered in dust, were standing outside the parking area of the Mowasalat office, apparently "waiting to be repaired or serviced."
When contacted, Mowasalat’s Marketing Manager Ahmed al-Ansari said: "Indeed we have been training our drivers - more than 2,000 - of the various routes and procedures they will need to know to provide services to expected guests and visitors to Doha during Asian Games. This process began in September this year, and is very nearly complete.
Another 150-odd taxis, covered in dust, were standing outside the parking area of the Mowasalat office, apparently "waiting to be repaired or serviced."
When contacted, Mowasalat’s Marketing Manager Ahmed al-Ansari said: "Indeed we have been training our drivers - more than 2,000 - of the various routes and procedures they will need to know to provide services to expected guests and visitors to Doha during Asian Games. This process began in September this year, and is very nearly complete.
Mr. Ahmed Al Ansari
"We have a number of drivers supporting Dagoc at this time," but, "we have new drivers coming into the operation continuously to increase our number of operational taxis on duty."
Al-Ansari said Mowasalat continues to operate "as many taxis as we can at this exceptionally busy period in Doha."
He, however, did not answer a question as to exactly how many Karwa taxis are operational on the roads at the moment, and if the number had declined with the Games nearing.
Sources said Karwa drivers had been divided into three groups – T1, T2 and T3 – for the Asian Games. "T1 members will drive the VVIPs around during the Games. T2 drivers will drive the sportspersons and officials to and from the various venues, while the T3 men will drive the regular Karwa taxis."
While the T1 and T2 groups of drivers are "mostly veterans", almost all T3 drivers are new recruits, sources said.
However, a source said that though the number of Karwa taxis on the roads at the moment was "fewer", a large number of them would take to the roads once the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006 begin. "The T3 drivers would have completed their training by then. But the situation is likely to get back to normal only after the Games are over," he said.
Mowasalat has promised there will be "at least 2,500" Karwa taxis operating in the country by January 2007.
Al-Ansari said Mowasalat continues to operate "as many taxis as we can at this exceptionally busy period in Doha."
He, however, did not answer a question as to exactly how many Karwa taxis are operational on the roads at the moment, and if the number had declined with the Games nearing.
Sources said Karwa drivers had been divided into three groups – T1, T2 and T3 – for the Asian Games. "T1 members will drive the VVIPs around during the Games. T2 drivers will drive the sportspersons and officials to and from the various venues, while the T3 men will drive the regular Karwa taxis."
While the T1 and T2 groups of drivers are "mostly veterans", almost all T3 drivers are new recruits, sources said.
However, a source said that though the number of Karwa taxis on the roads at the moment was "fewer", a large number of them would take to the roads once the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006 begin. "The T3 drivers would have completed their training by then. But the situation is likely to get back to normal only after the Games are over," he said.
Mowasalat has promised there will be "at least 2,500" Karwa taxis operating in the country by January 2007.
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