PSV operators back regional counterparts

The Barbados chapter of the Regional Transport Association (RTA) is throwing its full support behind omnibus operators in St Vincent and the Grenadines for withdrawing their services for the second time in as many weeks over COVID-19 protocols in that country.

Spokesperson for the group Roy Raphael, Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT), told Barbados TODAY he will be setting up a meeting with regional public service vehicle (PSV) member organisations to discuss the matter.

Some members of the Vincentian Transportation Association withdrew their services Monday, threatening to do so “for as long as it takes” for the government there to reverse a decision to halve the number of passengers they are licensed to carry without any associated subsidy.

Raphael confirmed: “We are monitoring what is happening in St Vincent and the Grenadines very carefully.

“Our secretariat is in Trinidad and we have asked them to prepare some documents to pass to the regional partners including the government of St Vincent to see if we can bring this under control. At this stage, it appears that we will need to have further discussions. We just want the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ public transport to know we are in solidarity,” said Raphael.

“We believe that what they are calling for in terms of increasing their capacity is good,” he said, adding that the next move will depend on what comes out of the “special meeting” scheduled for this weekend.

Barbados is the current Chair of the RTA, and other members include St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and Grenada.

This comes a week after the members of the regional organisation met to discuss the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the PSV business.

“We concluded then that we need to introduce a number of areas that we can benefit from such as emergency funding and insurance so that when these situations arise we don’t put a burden on the governments of the day to assist us,” he said.

Pointing out that the issues facing the PSV operators in Kingstown were similar to what operators were facing in Bridgetown, Raphael said it was critical for them to strengthen their relationship to make it  better for similar operations across the board.

With PSV operators in Barbados still awaiting a directive from government on their current 60 per cent capacity limit, Raphael said there was no plan to withdraw their service at this time. Instead, Raphael said PSV operators would be seeking to meet with authorities.

“We are awaiting the announcement from Government to see if we will be allowed to go back to 100 per cent. Like our colleagues, we cannot continue to operate on a 60 per cent basis,” he said, adding that he would be reaching out to Government in the coming days on the matter.

During the national lockdown, the 20-seater and 14-seater ZR vans were allowed to carry a maximum of 12 and eight passengers, respectively, while minibuses were allowed to carry a maximum of 14 passengers.

“We are saying that once persons adhere to the COVID-19 regulations then the Government should increase the capacity. Having stores re-open means more people and we are also getting complaints through the complaints department that people are being left at the bus stop due to the capacity constraints,” he said.
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)