‘Long in coming’

Some taxi operators are adamant that they cannot wait three months to implement Government-approved rate increases as proposed by the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA).

Doing so at this stage, they say, would mean that they lose out on the much-needed financial boost that comes with the peak tourism period.

The taximen, who have welcomed the hike in rates, fear that the hoteliers may be attempting to “dictate” the affairs of the transport industry.

“We deserved this rate increase. This has been 15 years and so many things have gone up. Gas gone up, road tax, the price of parts and the roads have gotten worse. Why are so many people stressing so much about this increase? Taxi men ain’t deserve nothing?” asked Andrew McCaskie, who has been in the taxi business for 32 years. 

Last Friday Deputy Prime and Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources Santia Bradshaw announced during a press conference, the first rate increase in 15 years to take effect the next day.

But one day after the effective date, BHTA chairman Renee Coppin called for a three-month delay before the fees were applied, to give the industry more time to make adjustments as the development could result in significant losses for businesses offering pre-sold packages to Barbados. Tour operators and travel agents had contracts in place for transportation, which were included in holiday packages sold to tourists, Coppin explained.

In The City on Monday, some operators had their say on the BHTA’s response.

“The hotel [association] should be ashamed. Look at the hotel prices per night, nobody, not even the tourists, don’t complain . . . So don’t talk about taxi men prices, check yourself first,” McCaskie said.

“Hotels can’t dictate taxi men [business]. Why can’t they lower their rates in the peak season? Tell them to lower their rates . . . Why they want to control taxi men prices? Leave us alone.”

McCaskie suggested that the BHTA should be more mindful of what they say, adding that taxi operators controlled the movement of thousands of tourists across the island and had a significant role to play in advising them about where they should stay and places they should visit. 

One coach driver who requested anonymity said the major tour companies subcontracted them via transfers to move tourists from the sea port to the airport and vice versa.

He said the increase was needed and the operators were not planning to delay applying the new rates.

He explained that a full tank of fuel cost over $500 and it only lasted about “a day and a half” at the most.

He said that with his 30-passenger capacity vehicle he was being paid over $360 to transfer people from the sea port to the airport.

Another operator who drives a four-seater passenger van said it cost him over $200 to fill up and he was being offered less than $60 to transfer tourists from the seaport to the airport. 

Both men explained that most days their trips only allowed them to make enough money to refuel their vehicles. The situation was even more challenging when the trips were one-way, they added.

Their colleague Raul Alleyne, who has 15 years’ experience in the business, said that based on the numbers they needed the increase.

“Without us these businesses [tour companies and other industry stakeholders] could not carry on, so they definitely needed the increase.” 

Alleyne also said he was disappointed by the negative feedback from the public about the new rates.

“It hurts me to hear the comments on social media about how people talk about the taxi increase . . . Think about you working ten years in a job and not getting a pay increase. We got a pay increase, that is all we got. I want the public to see it as a pay increase and not a taxi [fare] hike. It is like every other job, like when the minimum wage went up. . .”

Norrell Webster, who has spent 35 years in the business, said he felt good about the raise but he conceded that some clients may not be able to pay the new rates.

However, he said taxi operators were understanding and were willing to negotiate prices.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb