Route 40 (Kitty/Campbell-ville) minibus operators yesterday held a mini-protest at their bus park as they claim “hotplaters” continue to break the turn system rules.
“We are still suffering as a result of the hot plate, although we continue to pay our $200 daily… This is not fair because they end up making three trips compared to we one and they don’t have to pay a cent,” minibus operator Geoffrey Roberts told Stabroek News yesterday.
A ‘hotplater,’ it was explained, is a minibus operator who does not join the queue, but drives to the front and picks up the first passengers.
Efforts to contact Town Clerk Royston King proved futile but this publication was toldby a City Hall official that a meeting with the operators was planned for tomorrow at 2 pm in City Hall’s Chamber.
Three weeks ago, minibus operators engaged in public transport agreed with City Hall for a one-week agreement that would see them pay a fee of $200 per day to use the city’s minibus parks.
In turn, the city promised to enforce regulations at the parks that would see an effective turn system implemented, that would aid in every operator getting a fair round of passengers for their respective routes. The city also said that it would try to ensure that the parks’ surroundings were kept tidy.
On the implementation of the pilot, the Town Clerk had told a packed City Hall Chamber of minibus operators that he believes the only way to get a properly functioning system, is by stakeholders’ consultations and trial and error, which, according to him, was what the council was doing.
“We should allow this one week as a pilot where we test the challenges and we know what changes have to be made. It is because we know there will be adjustments that we are meeting with the stakeholders and so forth,” King said, though he made clear that “who don’t want to pay will not be allowed to use the park.”
However, the minibus operators said that after the week the chaos returned.
“Look, from the second day, I think, was back to basics. The man coming around yes to collect the $200 even and straight but you not seeing anything different in the operations,” Shawn Glasgow complained to Stabroek News.
“They say after one week we gon’ try this thing out and see but we seeing and like them ain’t seeing. The hotplaters them geh any time with $200 and City Hall and deh $#@&? Then we hear it gon tek another week. So how much week before they decide pon something solid eh?” he questioned.
The City Hall official told this newspaper that the pilot period was not “ample time” and that was the reason it was extended.
However, the official assured that on Sunday the issue will once again be discussed.
Early in February, City Hall had deployed City Constabulary ranks onto the streets for traffic management.
The ranks have been directing traffic in the city with a special focus on commercial areas. City Hall said that with a batch of its own officers responsible for traffic law enforcement on the streets and bus parks of Georgetown, it will complement the Guyana Police Force’s Traffic Department and there can be order in the public transport system.
The Town Clerk had explained that the council met with Traffic Chief Dion Moore and examined the constabulary partnering with the GPF.
“There is a partnership and we are working with the Guyana Police Force to ensure we regulate, control and manage traffic fully on council’s roads and in council’s areas. We will enforce the regulations, we will enforce the laws as far as practicable,” he had stated.
