May 01, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 24, 1429

MELBOURNE, April 30: Hundreds of taxi drivers ended a 20-hour blockade of the centre of Australia’s second-largest city on Wednesday after the government agreed to improve safety measures.

The protest began with some 100 cab drivers blocking central Melbourne on Tuesday evening in protest at the near fatal stabbing of a young driver, reportedly an Indian student, earlier in the day, police said.

Hundreds more cabbies, including scores of drivers from India and the Middle East, braved the bitter cold to join the demonstration.

During the blockade, which severely disrupted traffic, drivers chanted “we want justice” and “Shame, shame, Victoria police.” By the time the protest broke up on Wednesday afternoon, after the government agreed to help install safety screens in up to 4,000 taxis, numbers had swelled to 600, police said.

Under the deal, drivers will also be able to demand payment at the start of night trips to ease the tensions between drivers and passengers.

The Victorian state government also said it would pay for the medical costs of the unnamed 23-year-old who was stabbed and severely injured by a passenger in the early hours of Tuesday morning.—AFP