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Not business as usual for taxi service

by Marlon Madden
4 min read
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Minister of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Kerrie Symmonds is adamant that there needs to be greater flexibility in how taxi operators in Barbados are able to ply their trade.

Responding to an article published in Barbados TODAY about unauthorized taxis plying ZR routes illegally, Symmonds stopped short of dismissing the concern of the ZR operators, insisting that people were too quick to condemn.

“There is an ease that we have in Barbados of condemning people who are really entrepreneurs trained to earn a living the legitimate way in their own right, but not getting the assistance that needs to be obtained from either the Government or the Barbadian community. So people are very quick to condemn,” said Symmonds.

On Thursday, Barbados TODAY reported that several Z and ZM licenced taxi operators were now creating a headache for privately-owned public service vehicle operators on several routes including the Bayfield, College Savannah and the ABC Highway.

Commuter Complaints Officer with the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Craig Banfield said he was concerned about the safety of commuters and potential violence.

He explained that should a taxi pick up passengers from a bus stop on a route on which it was not assigned to operate and met an accident, those passengers would not be covered by insurance.

However, Symmonds said “No part of that story carried the very obvious concern that I think all Barbadians must have when you stop to look at this thin. If we do not have some flexibility built into the process, how do taxi drivers who previously were reliant on tourists that are not now here, not likely to be here in large numbers for a while to come, how then do these people survive?”

The minister did not give details, but again suggested that he was looking at the possibility of encouraging changes to laws governing the taxi and public service vehicle operators with a view of widening the scope for how taxi operators could do their trade in Barbados.

“So what is the flexibility that can be built into the regulations so as to make sure we do not condemn all of you to a slow and painful disappearance from the economic landscape of Barbados? For me, that just can’t happen,” he said.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, taxi operations are among the many areas severely impacted by the absence of large numbers of visitors as part of a dramatic decline in the travel and tourism sector.

It was during the Small Business Association’s recent Small Business Week that Symmonds first indicated that he wanted changes to the regulations.

He noted then that as lawmakers prepare a “series” of legislation to help improve business facilitation, different segments of the small business sector should be given careful consideration.

The former Minister of Tourism told Friday’s gathering that he was not pleased that taxi operators continued to operate in a way they did more than five decades ago and that there was urgent need for change.

Stating that he did not have all the answers and would need to hear from those in the industry, Symmonds said any changes in the sector would definitely have to be in association with the Ministry of Transport.

“It is a small business problem and it is a developmental issue that we have to address. We have to accept that where we are today, we are looking at a sector that has done its business with the same model that it has been following from the time I know myself,” he said.

Calling for greater use of technology in the sector, he suggested that the model of taxi drivers operating from a set location should come to an end and allow taxi operators to better earn a living.

Symmonds was addressing an open discussion forum at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Friday, where more than 200 taxi operators were introduced to the new taxi hailing application, PickUp Barbados.

The free app, will allow residents to sign up and be able to hail a cab in their area and registered taxi operators who sign up will be able to still operate as they currently do but get added opportunity for more business.
(marlonmadden@barbadostoay.bb)

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