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Car hire operators, omnibus drivers on Praslin keep abreast of Covid-19 health measures |03 August 2020

Car hire operators, omnibus drivers on Praslin keep abreast of Covid-19 health measures

The training session in full swing

Now that the airport has re-opened to scheduled commercial flights after a period of four months, foreign visitors will start trickling into the country.

In preparation for such, car hire operators and omnibus drivers on Praslin followed a short session to familiarise themselves with the Covid-19 pandemic health measures and best practices. This is to ensure case detection and avoid transmission of the virus.

The session, which was held on Saturday at the Baha’i Centre at Baie Ste Anne, saw the participation of 66 individuals who also included several taxi drivers and tour guides.

It was Dina Hibonne from the health department, assisted by Daisy Rath, who conducted the session which discussed infection prevention measures for welcoming and serving visitors, disinfection of vehicles, early case detection and reporting.

The compulsory session, which had been organised by the department of health, the land transport division and Omnibus Operators Association, is part of a series of protocols which must be met to receive the ‘Safe Tourism Certificate’. This includes the submission of a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and a visit to the designated office by health officials (applicable to car hire operators). Operators will also receive a ‘Safe Tourism Sticker’ which is to be displayed on their vehicles.

Sixty-two taxi drivers on the island had attended a similar session the previous week.

When asked about her impression of the session, Bernadette Rose from MC Rent a Car expressed her appreciation for the newly acquired knowledge.

“The session today was very informative and we received all the required basic information of how best to protect ourselves and disinfect our vehicles. Though we are a bit uncertain of how things will unfold in this ‘new normal’, we look forward to slowly resume our services and welcome visitors,” Miss Rose noted.

On his part, Jourdan Esther, an omnibus operator, welcomed the initiative to organise such a session which he believes will be a great help to all operators. “Education is the key to ensuring that we resume normal touristic activities in a safe manner. So it was crucial that we be trained on best practices so as to be on par and play our role in helping fight this pandemic. We also hope that visitors will understand the need for the newly introduced health measures,” said Mr Esther.

He said he believes it is a bit early for Seychelles to resume commercial flights and it is therefore very important that we take precautionary measures to protect our small country from the pandemic.

“It might be difficult for us to handle an influx of cases so I really hope that everyone understands the real situation and ensure that we protect ourselves and stay safe.”

The session was also attended by Mervin Elizabeth, chairman of the Omnibus Operators Association and its vice-chairman Davis Pothin.

At the end of the session, they met with omnibus operators for a discussion.

“Today we learned of the concerns of the operators and seized the opportunity to see how best the association can assist them during the ‘new normal’. We especially shed some light on the FA4JR assistance and new application procedures. We also proposed the introduction of a pilot project whereby operators on Praslin can venture in contracts for secondary school students transfer similar to that being implemented on Mahé. This is especially due to the fact that the Praslin market is mainly tourism and operators have been almost without any revenue during the past months. This project is currently being discussed with the government and we wanted the input of the operators in order to assess the feasibility of such a project,” Mr. Elizabeth said, noting the importance of greater solidarity during this unprecedented time and encouraged non-members to join the association.

 

Text & photos: Nadia Bedier/Romano Laurence of Côte D’Or Cars

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