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Taxi boss walks out of safety meeting
A CRISIS meeting with taxi chiefs and the city council took a dramatic turn when a cab firm boss stormed out.
The forum met amid the backdrop of a string of attacks on taxi drivers in Peterborough over recent weeks.
Boss of Betta Cars Mohammed Shabir ripped up his papers and walked out, expressing his disgust at the council response on security.
He claimed that when he asked if the council would consider providing CCTV cameras in cabs, he was met with a flat no.
But the city council said that he had brought up the CCTV issue before the meeting began, and had he not been so hasty, Mr Shabir would have heard how there were moves to work towards a solution.
Spokesman Mike Lennox said that while the council couldn’t be expected to fork out for CCTV cameras in private cabs, it would be prepared to make a contribution if a suitable system and a source of primary funding could be found.
He said: “He was told the issue was scheduled for discussion later in the meeting, but instantly tore up his papers, announced he was going to resign from the forum, and walked out of the meeting.
“If Mr Shabir had remained, he would have been able to participate in what was a very constructive discussion about how to improve security for taxi drivers.”
It was agreed that a suitable CCTV system for drivers and download facilities for police would be looked into.
Also, enquiries will be made into sources of finance, such as a community fund.
However, Mr Lennox added that equipping all 191 Hackney cabs and 380 private hire cars operating in the city with basic CCTV would cost about £180,000 – which the council couldn’t afford.
Mr Shabir, who attended the meeting with Mahmood Khan, chairman of the Hackney Federation, taxi enforcement officers, councillors, police and elected representatives, said: “The council had its own agenda to discuss, without consulting the trade, which annoyed me.
“My question concerned safety. As a council, it has an obligation to ensure it.
“Taxi enforcement is self- governing and the revenue received from drivers should be spent on them by providing CCTV in their cabs. I was given a point blank no.
“This really shocked me. I have many employees, and safety is a very important issue.
“When he said no, I resigned. I’m not going to listen to people who don’t have any intention of moving forward or providing safety measures.”
Mahmood Khan backed Mr Shabir, but said he was heartened by the assurances given.
“The police said they would work with us and realised the incidents were arising late at night and early in the morning,” he said.
“Also, the council is calling CCTV companies together and inviting the taxi drivers to see what the cheapest ones are.
“Let’s see if they put what they said into action.”
Mr Lennox said: “The fact remains that employers have a responsibility for the safety of their employees. The council’s licensing team is also responsible for managing licences for pubs, clubs and off-licences – none of which expect contributions to their CCTV and other security arrangements.”
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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
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