Ahead of the expected busy back-to-school period on Monday, police officials from the northern division are determined to maintain order at the Speightstown bus terminal.
Head of the Northern Division Operations of the Barbados Police Service Assistant Superintendent of Police Janice Ifill and a team of 20 police officers took steps to ensure that public service vehicle (PSV) operators were in compliance with the road traffic laws and regulations.
This, said Ifill, was in response to several complaints of traffic violations and lack of compliance among some privately-owned PSV operators.
The exercise included random checks of operators to ensure their papers were up-to-date and that they were adhering to the required dress code while operating within the rules.
Many of the PSV operators who ply their trade from the Speightstown location have been accused of loading passengers outside the terminal along sections of the highway and causing some traffic disruption.
While officials of the island’s main PSV representative body welcomed the police exercise to restore order, which is expected to continue on Friday and again next week, they have called on law enforcement officials to be lenient where possible and apply the same treatment to the Transport Board operators.
When a Barbados TODAY news team arrived at the Speightstown bus terminal, several police officers were observed checking the documents of ZR and minibus operators.
“We decided that today is a good day to come out here because next week is school and we will have the rush. We just want to make sure that all the traffic regulations are being observed by the PSV operators and we also want to let the commuters know they are safe in our hands,” said Ifill.
“We have been having a number of complaints about the PSV operators not complying with the officers at some times and breaching all the traffic regulations and the laws,” she said.
“Sometimes we hear that they are not properly dressed when they are working and you need to have them know that they can’t wear slippers. We want to avoid accidents and avoid people feeling fearful of catching these minibuses. We want to let people recognise that there are rules and laws that must be obeyed and if they fail to do so we are prepared to take the appropriate action wherever and whenever possible,” the police officer said.
Constable Peter Morris who normally patrols the area said that one of the most common problems with the PSV operators was that they stopped to pick up passengers just outside the gate after exiting the terminal. However, he quickly indicated that commuters often encourage the PSV operators to break the rules.
By around midday, only two PSV operators had to be pulled from their route for traffic violations. Over 150 minibus drivers and over 40 ZR drivers operate from the Speightstown bus terminal, police officials indicated.
ASP Ifill said she believed the police presence alone, which spanned Major Walk at the northern entrance of the bus terminal to Church Street to the south and closeby sections of Highway 1, helped to bring some order.
“At the end of the day all we want is a safe Barbados for everybody so that we can commute properly and know that the laws are being obeyed and the roads are safe and people can travel without fear,” she said.
Mark Haynes, Communications, Information and Marketing Officer of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT), who also visited the Speightstown location, welcomed the operation.
He urged the PSV operators to continue to comply with the rules even in the absence of police presence. He indicated that most of the complaints were related to the younger operators in the sector.
“We are urging [PSV] workers to be in full conformity with the law so they don’t have to go and pay fines they can ill-afford and to bring the sector into disrepute. We are all for law and order,” said Haynes.
“We can only urge and beseech and warn the guys to behave. The onus is on the workers in the sector to take the sector seriously and see it as a job and not as a hangout space to do as they feel like,” he added.
He also called on law enforcement officials not to carry out their duties in a “draconian” way, but consider giving warnings where possible.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the AOPT Roy Raphael said he believed the Transport Board operators must also be subjected to the same scrutiny as the privately-owned PSV operators.
“We support the operation but we would also like the police to, if they are looking at the public service vehicles, look across the board instead of just the minibus and ZR sector,” said Raphael. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
