Owners of public service vehicles (PSVs) want Transport Board drivers who disobey the COVID-19 protocols to be taken off the road too.
Communications and marketing officer at the Alliance Owners of Public Transport Mark Haynes has contended that it would be unfair for the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit to discipline PSV drivers and conductors but allow Transport Board drivers to get off “scotch free”.
His comments have come following a report that a Transport Board driver was reported by the unit for not properly wearing his mask last Tuesday.
However, while PSV workers have been pulled off the road for seven days for a similar infraction, it was unclear whether the driver in question was disciplined.
According to a report from the monitoring unit, which was obtained by Barbados TODAY, the Transport Board driver was seen with his mask below his chin while the bus was stopped along Tudor Street, The City.
When he was approached by members from the unit, the driver refused to wear the mask correctly, saying outside was hot and the mask was uncomfortable.
He then drove off without giving his name.
A complaint was subsequently lodged at the Transport Board and president of the Transport Board Association was also made aware of the situation.
But Haynes told Barbados TODAY what was good for the goose should also be good for the gander.
“I would think that if a PSV driver commits an infraction of this nature and he is penalized then the same should apply for the Government bus, notwithstanding that they may have internal disciplinary measures to take against him or her who was driving the bus, the unit should apply the same penalties to the Transport Board because it would not be fair and equitable and reasonable to report the PSV sector and do not report the Government-owned bus whose driver commits an infraction. The same should apply,” Haynes said.
“I do not think that it augurs well for the image of the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit not to report the bus driver once he has committed an infraction, because he knows by now that the passengers, the commuters and himself are required to wear the masks to mitigate against this dreaded disease.”
Haynes said while he understood both the monitoring unit and the Transport Board were Government entities it did not mean preferential treatment should be meted out.
He said fair treatment in the transport sector should be “across the board”.
“These protocols are governed by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in conjunction with the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit because they are the ones who have the science, so I think it would be unfair not to report the Transport Board driver.
“Wherever this raises its ugly head I think that the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit should equally penalize the Transport Board driver who commits an infraction. Anything other [action] than that would be wrong, it would be ludicrous and it would be unfair, so it must be across the board,” Haynes said.
Just under a month ago, a PSV driver and conductor were the first to feel the brunt of the new measures when they were suspended for one week by the Monitoring Unit for breaching the protocols.
Three PSV drivers were also fined $1,000 after they pleaded guilty to not wearing masks while driving their vehicles.
(randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)
