Members of the public are being urged not to pay any increase in fares when using public transportation services since there has been no increase in gasoline prices or vehicle parts as a result of the newly introduced Value Added Tax (VAT).
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad made this announcement at a press conference yesterday in response to an article published in the Sunday edition of the Kaieteur News, which stated that minibus and taxi operators are planning strike action if the fares are not increased.
The article said the decision was made in the wake of the introduction of VAT, which has been implemented on vehicle parts and accessories and fares could be raised by 20%.
Prashad, officials from the Tourism Ministry, Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir and Eileen Cox and Pat Dial of the Consumers Association held an urgent press conference yesterday to assure the public that there would be no fare increases and to urge the business population to follow the rules.
Prashad told members of the media that even Acting President of the Public Transportation Association Compton Giddings expressed surprise at the newspaper article when he spoke to him yesterday. Because of this, he said, Giddings is planning a meeting for tomorrow at the Square of the Revolution to highlight the issues outlined in the article.
“There will be no strike action, no fare increase,” Prashad stressed.
Prashad told the media that two years ago minibus fares were increased when gasoline prices rose. He said the agreement then was that fares would not increase again if the price for gas did not exceed $1,000. At present, he said, the price for gasoline has dropped to a little over $700.
The spare parts issue
Prashad said Giddings raised the issue of spare parts, but he noted that spare parts had previously attracted 30% consumption tax, while VAT was only 16%. “What I am trying to say to you is that it [the prices of spare parts] will therefore go down.”
He said dealers such as Sylvie’s and Auto Supplies and Company (both based in Georgetown) have not raised their prices. He said this was known because several teams were sent out to find out which business places are overcharging customers. “We have visited about ten spare parts dealers in the last half an hour and we have found that these two places have fair prices.” Gasoline, which is the main component of operating a bus, has not gone up, Prashad said and therefore any move to increase fares would be totally misleading and unwarranted. He said the price of gas would not go up unless there was some problem with the world market.
Prashad said that while with VAT a few items will go up, in the short term some businesspeople are exploiting consumers. “We are asking the business people to look at this situation carefully. The Guyanese customers are very smart. They will go to the places that have lower prices. In the short term some people are bent on creating confusion. We are therefore asking the leaders of the private sector to advise others not to create confusion.”
He said teams have been sent out to various locations around the country and the information received so far was that most of the big stores have adjusted their prices. “Some managers are even on TV saying that their prices have not gone up.”
Mahdia bus fare increase
Last Thursday minibus drivers plying the Mahdia route stopped operating their vehicles to protest the hike of the river-crossing fee.
The drivers were asked to pay a $2,000 increase by Mekdeci Mining Company which operates the crossing service at Mango Landing and as a result have decided to raise their bus fare from $5,000 to $6,000 per person.
Minister Nadir commenting on this issue advised members of the public not to pay any increase. He said that if there were 13 passengers in one bus it meant the bus operator would make $11,000 profit one way.
He said the cost for operating a vehicle in 2007 will be less than it was two years ago when the fare price was set with the Public Transportation Association.
“Consumers should not pay any increase in transportation fare. For the Mahdia route they want to raise their fare by 20% and increase their income by about $13,000. Do not pay any increase that they are demanding,” Nadir said.
He added that in the next importation cycle, which could be in the next three weeks, prices will go down and it is up to the minibus operators to shop around.
Nadir cited page 45 of the VAT guideline book which has all the items that will go down. He said the prices of over 400 categories of items will go down while only about 139 items will see increased prices.
