Over 20 minibus drivers who ply the Georgetown to Timehri route halted their buses yesterday morning calling for an increase in fares and for schoolchildren to pay adult fares, since the police are clamping down severely on overloading.
The drivers, who also want the rule preventing them from soliciting passengers at the airport relaxed, said they plan to continue the protest action until they get the attention of the authorities.
When this newspaper arrived at the bus park yesterday, the buses were lined off and closed as the drivers and conductors gathered around to make their concerns known.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Dexter Le Younge told this newspaper that it was now costing drivers over $800 for each gallon of gasoline.
The fare to Timehri is currently $240 and the minibus drivers are proposing an increase to $360.
Additionally, he said most of the buses which come from the airport each day assist more than 1,000 schoolchildren who travel on a daily basis by charging them only half of the regular fare.
However, with stricter penalties being imposed by the police, the minibus drivers say they may have to end up charging the children full fares.
“Because what we usually do is put two school children in one seat and we charge them half fare but now the police ain’t tolerating no overload at all. So we will have to start charging the schoolchildren the full fare, … a head is a head,” he explained.
The drivers have complained too of not being able to get enough passengers at the airport, which they say is their return point and are asking for at least 20 minutes to get passengers.
“In any country, wherever buses stop they get a chance to load and we are not allotted any time at all to load because if we try to get a couple passenger we are hassled by the police and if we pay the $200 to go into the car park we could be charged for soliciting passengers,” Le Younge said.
Some time ago the Police Traffic Department had taken a decision to prevent minibuses from soliciting passengers at the airport’s arrivals section as it had become a disgusting feature with conductors and touts jostling travellers, grabbing their luggage and forcing them to choose minibuses as their transport to Georgetown.
Though a large number of minibuses carry the Route 42 zone number, only some of them actually go as far as the airport.
Some of them do short drops to Mocha Arcadia, Agricola, Eccles, Land Of Canaan, Grove, Kuru Kururu and other locations on the East Bank Demerara.
These drivers are calling for the implementation of a system, which would prevent the other buses from infringing on their routes.
The drivers made it clear yesterday that their intention was not to interfere with the police’s current traffic campaign.
They said they were prepared to work with the police as they execute their duties. Le Younge said the intention was to try to get the message across as the minibus drivers strive to continue to make a peaceful living.
They had planned to assemble at another location later yesterday to continue the protest. However, this newspaper learnt that at that time some of the buses had started working.
(Heppilena Ferguson)