Hyde Park protests against minibus drivers who smoke and listen to loud music when driving

The association Hyde Park has picketed the Chisinau City Hall this morning, asking the authorities to punish the minibus drivers who do not respect the rules. “The minibus drivers smoke, listen to loud music, are speeding, have dirty clothes and are rude. We are dissatisfied with this,” said Oleg Brega, one of the members of Hyde Park, Info-Prim Neo reports. Another protester, Gheorghe Lupusor said they received no answer to their approaches and if nothing is done Hyde Park will stage street protests. “We want to make the authorities aware that control is needed. The City Hall and other institutions have different rules and laws but they are not observed,” said Ana-Maria Spanu, of the same association. Veaceslav Tarna, the head of the Public Transport and Communications Division, said the drivers are monitored and those who break the law are penalized and even fired. “The complaints about the music, telephone, smoke, clothes and behavior of the drivers are examined by the Division together with the route administrator and the driver,” said the official. At the same time, Veaceslav Tarna urged the passengers not to get onto crowded units of transport as there are many minibuses running on routes and travel at an interval of 1-4 minutes at rush hour. Veaceslav Tarna said there is no statistical data about the complaints filed by passengers and about the number of drivers dismissed because of inappropriate behavior.