Rule under review

The five-minute rule is now under review.

That’s the word from Chairman of the Transport Authority Ian Estwick, who has revealed that the authority’s board of management will now make the final ruling on whether the controversial rule stays or not.

Estwick’s comments have come 24 hours after he reported that the rule, which limits public service vehicles (PSVs) operating in the Constitution River Terminal (CRT) to just five minutes in the loading bay, was being enforced.

His comments came as a shock to the two bodies which represent PSV owners and operators – the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) and the Association of Public Transport Operators – which said they put forward proposals to the authority’s acting Director Maria Boyce during a meeting on Monday, which they were promised would be presented to the board.

However in a brief interview with Barbados TODAY this evening Estwick said the board would have the final say on the matter.

“All I will say is that the rule is currently under review. I’m not saying yes or no to if it will remain, the board will decide on that,” he said.

Estwick disclosed that the board would meet to review the proposals next week.

Earlier, both public relations officer of AOPT Mark Haynes and APTO chairman Kenny Best told Barbados TODAY they were surprised by Estwick’s comments, considering that proposals had been put forward by the two organisations on how the situation could be better handled.

They said as far as they were aware, the proposals were scheduled to be presented before the board of management during a meeting this evening.

Haynes said he had yet to receive any official word from the transport authority that those proposals put forward during a meeting on Tuesday had been rejected.

“We had discussions up to this week and while the chairman was not present, the acting Director Maria Boyce chaired the meeting. We put forward some proposals to the board through her and we are awaiting a response from the board on the five-minute rule.

“There was nothing definitive in that meeting in respect of the same five-minute rule, but it was put on the table and we are awaiting word because the board was to subsequently meet to make a decision going forward,” Haynes said during a telephone interview.

“Best also admitted to Barbados TODAY that Estwick’s comments had caught him off guard.

Similarly to Haynes, he said he did not know if the Authority’s chairman was aware of the proposals as he did not sit in on the meeting.

Best contended that while the five-minute rule was always around it had never been enforced. He said the sudden decision to enforce it had caught PSV operators by surprise.

“We then met with them on Monday where the issue was raised and we were given the assurance by Ms Boyce that she would take our proposals to the board and I think the board meeting is supposed to be sometime today,” he explained.

“So before I can make any decisions I have to wait and see if they take our proposals to heart and see if they are workable in relation to how the system is operating.”
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb