Taxi representatives have warned fellow operators to resist joining the global ride-hailing company Uber, saying its entry threatens the livelihoods of thousands of taxis whose businesses have been built over generations.
“Do not sign up with Uber,” said Anthony Harewood, representative of the taxi fraternities at the airport and the Barbados Transport Co-operative Society Limited. “Protect what is ours.”
Under agreement with the government and amid pressure from taxi operators, Uber has launched Uber Taxi here, using only registered taxis.
“We are up against it,” Harewood told reporters. “As far as we can see, there is a need for us to protect what we have built up over the years. Not me personally, but my father, our grandfather’s generation and all the folks who I know personally who have worked diligently and hard to procure that airport franchise.
“My members are, I don’t want to say scared, but they’re concerned that Uber can really hit them in the pocket. And I mean, with taxiing as their only source of income to support their families, they definitely need some kind of protection from Uber.”
He declared that the taxi trade was grounded in entrepreneurship and sacrifice.
Harewood said: “Back in the 80s, I believe, the former prime minister said that every taxi owner is an entrepreneur, is a businessman. And we, from that time, saw it that way. And we built up our business. We made sure that our business was viable and that our business was sustainable. So we just cannot let Uber come in on the backs of our foreparents and take over. A global company, what do they need with this small island down here? Leave what is ours for us.”
There are more than 4 500 taxis operating in Barbados.
President of the Bridgetown Port Taxi Co-op, Adrian Smiley Bayley, described Uber’s expansion as part of a broader assault on black-owned enterprises and local economic empowerment.
He said: “There’s a core of people in Barbados who believe that the only business black people can run is to mind one another business. And every area of business that is springing up with black Barbadian people, as soon as they start to show some signs of progress, you’ll find that people try to ease their way into it.
“So it’s not just an attack on black businesses, it’s an attack on every piece of business that is centred around transportation in Barbados.”
Entrepreneur Cherice Waldron-Sealy echoed those sentiments, saying the issue was not merely about taxi fares or market competition but about preserving the future of local entrepreneurship.
She told reporters: “It is up to us as young individuals to find the best way forward in Barbados. Entrepreneurship is the evolution of Barbadian culture. Whether it’s taxiing, whether it’s hairdressing, no matter. It is indeed the evolution.”
She added that Uber’s growing use of driverless vehicles signalled a global effort to eliminate traditional operators.
“This is not just a move to Barbados to get a cut of the black man’s fare,” she said. “This is now a world domination because Uber has launched robot taxis. Taxis being driven by no one, just Google Maps. It’s evident that they plan to take over the whole world and basically demolish all taxi drivers in every country that they get their routes into. If we do not stand as individuals and get this route out of Barbados, we will be replaced.”
There are no indications that driverless cars are to be adopted in Barbados.
Taxi operator Diaonne Prescott, who works at both the Bridgetown Port and the airport, noted that many people failed to consider the high operating costs that legitimate taxi drivers face. She said operators must invest in vehicles, pay government fees, maintain inspections, and cover additional costs to operate at ports, airports, and hotels.
Prescott cautioned that Uber’s long-term presence could make independent taxi ownership impossible. (SZB)
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