After months of lobbying Government to ease the limits on their carrying capacity, PSV owners and workers are over the moon now that they have been given permission to do so.
Communications, information and marketing officer of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Mark Haynes, told Barbados TODAY workers in the sector were overjoyed having endured two tough years of restrictions.
On Saturday during a press conference, Minister of Health and Wellness Ian Gooding-Edghill announced big changes to the COVID-19 Directives which took effect from today. Included among those changes was an allowance for PSVs to increase their capacity from 75 per cent to 100 per cent of their authorized sitting passengers. However, no passengers will be allowed to stand.
“We’re elated that Government has acceded to our request to revert to the 100 per cent capacity, a consequence of which allows us to carry more commuters and to get the nation’s commuters off the road because we are in the business of moving the nation’s people and they should be moved safely and in a safe environment,” Haynes said during a telephone interview.
“The last two years have been potentially debilitating for the sector so this is a welcomed change for which I am glad and I really welcome it. Of course it has to be handled with a level of sensitivity because COVID-19 is still with us and we do not want to be reckless going forward with this.”
Haynes urged workers in the sector and commuters not to “let their guard down” with the relaxation of protocols.
“Wearing the mask is still a requirement and I will still encourage all the workers in the sector and commuters to appropriately wear their masks over their mouths and noses to help mitigate against the spread of COVID-19 because it has not dissipated and therefore we cannot let our guard down because now we have some relaxation of some of the measures.
“So therefore, we have a responsibility to the commuters and to ourselves and also the commuters have a responsibility to themselves also…We did not wish to put other people at risk and so it is imperative that all commuters wear their masks appropriately and do not remove them,” Haynes said.
“We are mindful that these are challenging times, these are uncharted waters and it is not business as usual. It is now a new norm as it were, but the new norm has to be handled with commonsense, has to be handled with discipline, has to be handled with order and has to be dealt with according to the law.” (RB)
