By Cathy Richards
Minibus operators say the ‘short-drop’ taxi service at Linden is currently threatening the round-the-town bus route and the current rehabilitation of Co-op Crescent Mackenzie and the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge are fuelling this process.
Since the scheduled closure of the only bridge which links Wismar and Mackenzie, the Linden municipality allowed minibuses which ply the Mackenzie/Wismar route to occupy an area along Burnham Drive in proximity of the ferry landings so that passengers who need to get to and from Wisroc Housing Scheme, Block 22, One and a Half Miles Canvas City, Silvertown and other areas would have easy access to transportation.
Close to that location is the Wismar Taxi Park, from where taxis ply the same routes in addition to Blue Berry Hill, West Watooka and Christianburg.
Minibus operators at Wismar told the Stabroek News that when the new system was put in place things were going well until taxi drivers got the brilliant idea to start doing short drops. “What these guys are doing now is collecting as much as five passengers and taking $100 per person,” one operator said. “When they start doing da things start getting rough for we and many days does pass and we the bus drivers don’t make no proper hustle.” This was supported by most of the drivers at the park at the time.
They said that the competition became very challenging because persons would opt to take the cars which would full much faster than the 15-seat minibuses. “I see down de line dey gon gat just a few minibuses running round-de-town cause dem bannas dominating de hustle. Let’s say we use to make ten to fifteen trips a day now we baily making a four-five trips in a day and this is not fair,” another driver said. They said that they had sought the intervention of the municipality but the systems put in place did not help the situation.
At the Mackenzie end the minibuses are also feeling the heat. They explained that some time last year some hire cars had started the $100 drop system and were encroaching on their parking space at the Mackenzie Bus Park. The minibus association had dialogue with the municipality which led to the short drop cars being offered a section of Berbice Road from which to operate.
Once this was in place, however, numbers quickly climbed from five cars to in excess of one dozen and in addition to the official hire cars more than 12 private cars started operating in the system illegally. “Is only when the police on the road dem man does go and park on Berbice Road and de police dem gat dem fren and does dey right there and see wah going on and don’t do nothing,” one bus driver said. Others said that both the hire and private cars encumber the bus park while others would park on Pine Street or Republic Avenue which are both in proximity to the bus park. “Miss we does gat to be rubbing shoulders with dem taxi driver to mek a hustle out here. People does say that we should leave people fuh go [with whichever vehicle] they want be it with the bus or the car but we can’t tek dat we got dealers to pay, families to feed and if we don’t hustle, cat eat we dinner out here.”
They said the situation worsened with the recent commencement of drainage work along Co-op Crescent. This has resulted in the temporary placing of the Mackenzie taxi park along Republic Avenue. “Now dem man who use to do the usual official taxi work when deh went round on Co-op Crescent join the $100 hustle. It gat some well-known pastors who using deh private car on the hustle now,” they complained bitterly.
Recently, a number of the defaulting car operators were charged and placed before the courts; some faced as many as four charges and in some cases were fined in excess of $100,000. But apparently these punitive measures have not deterred them.
Some passengers said that it is unfair to the bus operators but feel that they should use this challenge to bring about behaviour change among some drivers, particularly those who employ touts to fill their buses. “I sympathize with them but at the end of the day everybody has to live,” one woman said. “Times are rough and I even see with deh pastors cause everybody gat to live.” But another said that she only utilizes the services of the minibuses and the legal hire cars. “It is unfair for legal operators to be paying heavy insurance when the year come and de private cars don’t want to put deh vehicles in hire and cochoring the minibuses. Is time de police start taking videos and presenting it in court to smooth out this system,” she said.
Work on the Mackenzie/Wismar bridge and Co-op Crescent are scheduled to be completed some time this month. With this it is anticipated that the situation should change.
