Although the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has advised against a raise in minibus fares, some minibus operators are going against that and charging commuters an additional $20 to $40 on their regular fares.
The ministry, in a press release, had advised the public not to pay any increase in their regular fares, since the price of gasoline remains below $1,000. Those minibus operators charging an increase in fares are violating an agreement made between them and the ministry back in 2005 since the last fare increase.
Passengers called the fare hike “exploitation” and urged the relevant authorities to intervene.
When Stabroek News visited the bus parks yesterday, Route 45 (Hospital) passengers said that if they do not comply by paying the increase they are often verbally abused by the conductors and/or the driver.
Passenger, Melisa Singh pleaded with the authorities to have the issue addressed, because it has become a norm for them to abuse passengers if they do not comply.
She said, “I fed up with this every time dem ah raise the fare and if you nah pay it dey does cuss you up and I need the government to look after this.”
Passengers using Route 40, 47 and 48 minibuses also complained of an increase in the fares and as such they all want mechanisms to be put into place to have the non-compliant drivers dealt with severely.
Over at the Route 42 (Timehri), 31 (West Bank) and 32 (Parika) bus parks the fares remained the same and those passengers had no complaints. However, some said they are anticipating an increase because the “drivers will follow the flow” referring to those who have hiked their fares.
