A few hundred taxi drivers protested this afternoon in front of the Ministry of Finance, objecting to the terms of the replacement scheme the ministry launched in mid-2009 to replace older traditional black and white taxis with new white only taxis.

The drivers’ main demand is ending the monthly instalments they are paying. “The models they gave us can’t serve as a taxi. They won’t survive for five years. As soon as we start using the new cars, many technical problems start to appear,” said one of the protestors. Many other drivers testified to mechanical problems.

“I went to the agency to fix some problems in the car. They said 'It’s like this, you paid nothing for the car,'” complained another driver.

Drivers also complain that spare parts for the cars are expensive. The Consumer Rights Authority issued a decision in March 2010 obliging Esperanza to fix defects in their cars. “We are still suffering. Nothing changed and Esperanza is not the only case,” said the drivers.

Drivers also want to know the truth about unconfirmed news that Egypt received some of the cars that were sold to them as a grant. The drivers hope answers will be forthcoming from Gawdat Al-Malt, president of the Central Auditing Organisation.

Problems touch about 35,000 cars.