Matatu operators have given Malindi council a seven-day deadline within which to repair the battered stage or else they stop paying parking fees.

Malindi Vehicle Operators Association chairman, Mohamed Said Badawy said Wednesday that the council had failed to repair the stage, which is submerged under water, although the 140 members in the area are paying Sh40 per trip to pick up and drop off passengers.

Addressing the Press at the Mwembeni stage of the Malindi-Mombasa matatu route, the members said they had given the council up to May 28 to repair the stage or they would boycott paying parking fees.

"For a long time, we have been told the money will go towards repairing the stage, but nothing has been done while we continue paying them.

"Enough is enough," Mr Badawy said.

To boycott

Mr Badawy warned that if nothing was done within seven days, his organisation would join hands with others operating from Malindi to Garsen, Lango Baya, Marafa and all the other routes to boycott payment of the parking fees.

However, the mayor Mr Mohamed Menza urged the matatu operators to be "a little more patient" saying the stage was one of the projects earmarked for immediate repairs.

"We have just received about Sh20 million from the Ministry of Local Government. We have several projects on the list, one of them being the new market matatu stage drainage... be patient with us," the mayor pleaded.

The matatu operators also threatened to stage demonstrations if they were denied space in the new stage commissioned by President Kibaki in December,

"We must be given adequate space, or else we will demand our rights through demonstrations," warned the chairman.

Recently, Town Clerk Geoffry Katsole said vehicles have not been moved to the new stage because of technical hitches.

Water supply

"There is no electricity or water supply to the new stage. A number of things have not been fixed yet, but as soon as this is done, we shall move there," Mr Katsole said.