The presence of touts at the 32 bus park ‒ Parika to Georgetown route ‒ continues to cause distress to passengers and minibus operators who say they want the touts off of the park for good.
Several minibus owners, who didn’t want to be named because they feared they would be targeted by the touts, told Stabroek News that they are like “vultures” stalking their prey. “They pounce on these people like animals. As soon as a passenger comes to the park, at least two touts appear at their sides pulling them into whichever bus they are loading,” a frustrated minibus driver said.
Many passengers are scared to speak out to the touts, and those who do are given a serious tongue-lashing. Trisha Henry a frequent traveller said that when she decided to speak to the touts she was greeted with a fine “cussing.”
“These touts behave as if they own you. One of them burst my bags and all my stuff go on the ground and when I told him about it, he started to curse me.”
Several commuters also say that these men not only act as touts, but also pickpockets. As soon as a passenger reaches the park, the touts strike, jostling, pulling and tugging, several passengers told this newspaper. “After travelling with these buses for a while, I realized that my money missing after they grab and pull me,” a commuter said.
One passenger related that she was travelling several weeks ago and whilst heading into one bus, three touts started fighting over which one saw her first. “It was a real scary situation. I just wanted to go in peace and they were just cursing and fighting over who saw me first and which bus I should go in. I was lucky that I saw someone I know and he was able to get me out of the situation.”
Another minibus owner related that buses who abide by the rules suffer because they are in the line for hours on end, while these “spin buses” load in record time and are often back on the park before one of the law abiding buses can make a trip. “They have these buses that you call “spin buses” or “hotplates” who circle the area to get passengers. These buses never join the line and are making it unfair for us who go through the right channel,” he said.
Almost all the minibus owners this newspaper spoke to said that the police turn a blind eye to the touts since many of them are “buddies.” “Dem police don’t do anything to dem because at the end of the day all of them does drink and laugh up, while we going through hardships. Some days we barely making money because of these buses. It is a really unbearable situation,” he said.
Even the children, the minibus operators said, are not immune from the treatment meted out by the touts. “Imagine these little children does got to go through this too and because they are so small they can’t really speak up about it. Something needs to be done and fast,” an irate minibus owner said.
