Haigh on board

Commuters who are frustrated and fed up with the long waits and delays in the island’s transport system now have a new voice.

Former head of the Barbados Water Authority’s (BWA) communications department and Rapid Response Unit, Joy-Ann Haigh, has taken up the role of being an advocate for commuters.

Her company, Haigh Communications Inc., has been contracted by the Barbados Transport Authority to execute and implement a commuter advocacy programme.

During a meeting with members of the media at the Transport Authority’s headquarters at the Constitution River Terminal today, Acting Director Maria Boyce said the move to contract Haigh’s services was necessary in order to promote public transport services.

Executive Chair of Haigh Communications Inc., Joy-Ann Haigh (left) listening to the concerns of commuter Jeffrenette Robinson.

Boyce said receiving feedback from persons using the service, operators and other road users, was an important aspect of the authority’s overall mandate.

The Acting Director said the authority needed to know how commuters feel about the services being delivered, and to hear their suggestions regarding how the services could be improved.

“I think this gives an opportunity for persons to be heard and to be heard in a very personal way. And we welcome that opportunity through Miss Haigh and her organisation, to be able to hear what persons have to say,” Boyce said.

Boyce indicated that the authority does have a personal  hotline number where commuters can lay complaints.

Haigh jumped right into speaking to commuters in the River Terminal and heard their personal accounts of their frustration with the long wait. She said her aim would be to hear all concerns affecting commuters in an effort to have them addressed.

The communications specialist, who started the company after she was retrenched last year, said she would be making herself available to commuters as much as possible.

“But I think the most important thing right now is people want the bus on time and if there are challenges, that they are informed. I think that people are more concerned now that they are paying $3.50 and they want a reliable comfortable service. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb