Dear Editor,
The route 32 minibuses with the exception of a few, are now demanding that commuters pay a fare of $200 from the park to anywhere on the West Coast of Demerara before the village of Tuschen. The original fare was $160, and now we have to face an increase of $40 by these unscrupulous, greedy minibus operators.
If you refuse to comply you cannot enter their buses and if you do and refuse to pay the $200 upon arrival at your destination, they abuse you verbally and perhaps want to do it physically too from the way they sound.
It is very unfair and unscrupulous on the part of the minibus operators given the fact that the gas price is stable right now and most of the other routes are accepting the original fares without a fuss.
It is also very hard on the small man with the soaring prices in the market and now the $200 fare demands from the bus operators. Every bus claims to be going either to Tuschen or Parika not the West Coast any more, so if you want to go home you have to pay the Tuschen fare which is $200.
I am asking you to bring this to the attention of the relevant authorities urgently, since we have to wait on the few conscientious minibus operators who will accept the correct fare. This causes you to be in the park extremely late in the evenings after leaving work, when you should be home.
The drivers justify their behaviour by claiming that persons pay the fare without fuss, but many times we have no choice if we want to get home.
I would be grateful if government could provide public transportation at the standard fare for commuters during this peak time so as to relieve the situation.
Yours faithfully,
Karen Elcock
