PSVs support new rules but want fair play

At least one body representing public service vehicles (PSVs) in Barbados believes the proposed law to suspend the permits of drivers of PSVs after three strikes will help to put a halt to the bad behaviour in the industry.

However, agreeing that the law could help to curtail the wrongdoing of some drivers, some owners and operators told Barbados TODAY they had several concerns.

Among those concerns was that the law could be enforced for ZR and minibus drivers but not for the ZM operators involved in the Government’s Transportation Augmentation Programme (TAP).

In an effort to penalize habitual offenders within the private PSV industry, Government is introducing a new Public Transport Act, which has as its main feature, a three-strikes rule that ultimately leads to the suspension of an operator’s permit or driver’s licence on the third conviction.

PSV operators who contravene any part of the regulation may be fined $1,000 on their first offence, $2,000 for a second offence, and their licence suspended on the third conviction.

President of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael said he believed the law would be enforced and it should help to weed out the bad apples from the industry. He hopes that the owners of the PSVs who had someone else operating their vehicle would bear none of the responsibility.

“Too often the owners are not aware of what the operators out there are doing. I think there is some level of discipline that needs to come to the roads of Barbados. We understand basically that government needs to bring some order,” said Raphael.

He said this new rule should be accompanied by “a lot of training” to assist owners in identifying individuals who would obey the rules.

“We have been working closely with an HR consultant who is looking carefully at the type of persons we employ. I suspect when the rule comes into operation people who continue to flout the law will disappear,” he said.

“If they have any doubt, once they are a member of our association we have an HR consultant who can definitely interview them and that person would give them an idea if they are the correct person for the job because at the end of the day we have to protect our investments,” he said.

“This is an opportunity for us to take back our business. It is an opportunity for people to understand they are working for us and once they go on the road they must comply with the rules and regulations,” he said.

Several drivers, including Nolan Clarke, told Barbados TODAY they believed the changes to the law were long in coming as the industry needed cleaning up.

“I wouldn’t say it is a bad move. It will keep the guys in order,” said Clarke.

However, Andre Griffith, a conductor who was working the Sturges route on Wednesday, told Barbados TODAY he believed the law was a way to put the spotlight on the ZR and minibus drivers. He said Government should instead address other issues that were causing them not to earn adequately.

“We can’t pay for these vehicles if they keep taking away our passengers all the time. We want the number of passengers we can carry increased. At least let us carry the 24 and let the people get in the vans with the masks on, but don’t stop us from carrying the people because at the end of the day the Transport Board leaving a lot of people on the road and the people want to get home,” said Griffith.

The PSV operators are currently allowed to carry no more than 60 per cent of their maximum capacity as part of the Government-issued protocols for public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Griffith said when the new law is enacted it would be a wait-and-see for him because it was not only the ZR and minibus drivers that were “doing foolishness” on the island’s roads.

“The ZM men doing foolishness and still the policemen doing foolishness too,” he said.

“The police on we hard and they [are] not doing the coaches anything. Them buses that are working that TAP programme are carrying more than they are supposed to,” he said. He admitted however “We got some bad apples, but we can’t make Peter pay for Paul and Paul pay for all.”

One PSV owner and operator who would only give his name as Don, told Barbados TODAY he believed the new legislation would open an avenue for some policemen who “don’t like you” to abuse their power.

He argued that PSV operators and their conductors should not be penalised just for stopping a few bus lengths away from a bus stop, though agreeing that they should be fined for intentionally obstructing traffic or going off route.

Pointing out that Government was in need of revenue, Don was certain that once enacted, the law would be enforced.

However, he too questioned if operators involved in the TAP would feel the weight of the law once they were guilty of an offence.

“The problem is that they are going to hit all of these ZRs and [minibuses]. They are going to hit these hard. The majority of them vehicles out there running TAP programme will get off easy. I can bet you,” he said.

He recommended that authorities seek to address issues relating to insurance within the industry and granting of duty-free concessions.

“I am not saying the industry doesn’t need cleaning up, but I am saying don’t bring draconian measures and impose them on everybody for simple things,” said Don.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb