A peaceful protest for Taxi Drivers Safety was held on Wednesday this week in Lae Morobe province by taxi drivers after a fellow elderly taxi driver was stabbed three times and once to his neck on Monday early hours along the Cassowary Road. The taxi driver is currently in Angau Hospital fighting for his life. Mr Steven Pup, a cab driver with Irap Taxi services in an interview with PNG HAUSBUNG that he and other taxi drivers held a peaceful protest down at the Ignatius Kilage stadium where they were met by the police and presented grievance to police about safety concerns on the roads of Lae City. Mr Pup said they asked Lae Traffic Police to identify dangerous location and allocate designated areas for taxis to stop or turn when taking a passenger on that route. Pup said expect a response from police come 25th June. “Places we taxi drivers have identified as hot spot areas are Bumbu, Papuan Compound, 4mile, Malahang and Hanta Malahang.” “These areas we will not enter we will drop passengers at locations that are safe and easier for us to turn and go back because many time most taxi drivers have become victims of holdup and violence at these locations.” Mr Pup added that most times taxi drivers in Lae have become victims of hold ups because criminals think that they make a lot of money, but in fact they hardly make K200 a day. He added that taxi drivers agree that because they have become targets for holdups, they now plan to carry on board bush knives as protection. “This is not to scare our clients off; however this is for our own protection because often time criminals tend to pose also as customers and attack us while we are driving them to whatever direction they give.” “If police see bush knife inside our taxis during road checks please understand that we are only one person on the road risking our lives to serve the people of Lae city transport needs and our safety counts especially with high crime rate towards taxi drivers.”