Do the rightful thing!
That is the appeal from Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) chairman Roy Raphael as he called on illegal passenger transport operators to stop pirating routes and instead join the regulated public transport system.
“If you have a vehicle and you want to transport persons . . . come into the system, get the permit and operate legally,” he said.
Raphael’s call came as he strongly rejected comments made by Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados general secretary Dennis De Peiza who, at a press conference on Thursday, suggested that transportation gaps were contributing to the growth of illegal operators.
“We felt that the statement made by Mr De Peiza was reckless without investigation,” the AOPT chairman told the Sunday Sun yesterday.
While acknowledging that commuters sometimes experience delays and service shortages, particularly during the evening hours, Raphael said such challenges could never justify operating outside the law.
“It does not give the pirates the right to just pick up a vehicle and go on the road. It’s against the law,” he declared. “The law is clear that any person who operates an illegal vehicle picking up passengers is basically breaking the law.”
He revealed that one of the reasons some public service vehicle (PSV) operators leave routes earlier than commuters prefer is due to their growing concern about crime and personal safety.
“We carry large sums of money. We don’t carry pay boxes and we don’t have a cashless system,” he said.
Many operators, Raphael noted, travel through areas identified as crime hotspots, creating fears for their safety, particularly at night.
“There was an upscale in violence against public service vehicle operators,” he stated, adding that as a result, operators have increasingly invested in surveillance cameras.
Raphael said the PSV pirates have taken advantage of those circumstances, particularly between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. when, according to him, an estimated 15 to 20 unlicensed vehicles run certain routes.
“We are seeing the piracy more prevalent on the ABC Highway, the southern circle which is Oistins to College Savannah (St John), Speightstown to Checker Hall (St Lucy) and Speightstown to Mileand- A-Quarter (St Peter). There are also a couple more routes we are monitoring.
“These people are well organised. These are special routes that they go on and that we know of. They even call passengers and tell them where and how to meet them,” he said.
However, Raphael argued that Barbados does not have a shortage of transport vehicles but rather a challenge with deployment.
“We have over 1 200 public service vehicles out there and over 200 Transport Board buses. I would say that the existing numbers can adequately meet the public demand. There has already been a decrease in the number of people catching PSVs.”
The problem, he explained, was that too many operators gravitated towards lucrative corridors while some rural routes remain underserved.
He pointed to the ABC Highway corridor as one of the most profitable routes because of the high passenger volumes travelling between Bridgetown and the South Coast.
However, he noted that other routes, including some rural communities, continued to experience transportation shortages because operators naturally gravitate towards the more profitable corridors.
He suggested that under a more structured system, operators could be assigned to underserved routes where transportation is needed rather than concentrating on saturated routes.
Addressing those operating illegally, Raphael urged them to take the lawful route.
“Apply to the Transport Board for a permit.”
He said a ZR permit costs about $6 500 and around $1 200 for a minibus.
He suggested that many pirate operators avoid becoming licensed because they do not want to bear the costs associated with operating legally, particularly insurance.
“The insurance is $10 000 a year, so they would prefer to operate illegally where they will put people’s lives at risk,” he said.
He warned that passengers travelling in illegal vehicles might have little recourse if they are injured in an accident because those operators often do not carry the required passenger liability insurance.
Supporting his position was AOPT director of complaints and legal affairs, Craig Banfield.
“While there may be legitimate concerns regarding gaps in the transportation system, pirating cannot be used as justification for illegal passenger transport or to replace regulated transport with unregulated transport systems in Barbados,” the attorney said.
Efforts to get a response from Minister of Transport and Works Kirk Humphrey were unsuccessful. (NS)
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