Dear Editor,
Neil Manawar-Khan, who was elected president of a group concerning the route 41 and 46 minibus zones, said recently that neither government nor Commerce Minister Manniram Prashad had any authority to tell the operators not to increase their fares, since they are running a private service. “How come you want to dictate to me not to increase my fare? Our fare if $80 and we’re sticking to it,” he was quoted as saying.
If these statements are true they constitute nothing short of rudeness and utter disrespect which should not be condoned.
The minister and the government need to remind the minibus associations and their members that even though they are providing a private service they are operating in the public domain and should be made to pay their fair share of income tax.
They need to justify the increase. What methodology was used to arrive at the increase of $20? By logical reasoning I surmised that the fare is being arbitrarily increased by 33.33%. This is most unreasonable.
Yours faithfully,
Francis Carryl
