‘Wickedness!’

PM promises investigation into TAP operators illegally charging elderly commuters By Anesta Henry Some operators of the Transport Augmentation Programme (TAP) have been chastised by Prime Minister Mia Mottley for forcing pensioners to pay bus fares even though they know they will receive the payment from the Government. Following reports of this illegal practice, she promised that the matter would be investigated and operators who continue to engage in this may find themselves out of the programme. “That is wickedness on the part of people, and I will ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works [Santia Bradshaw] to get the Transport Board to have a meeting with all of the TAP holders because I know that you come to the Ministry of Finance for money to pay them. They are paid for school children and for the elderly and for the police. “I think it is a wonderful programme for the enfranchisement of former Transport Board workers but by the same token, fair is fair. You cannot take advantage, particularly of senior citizens, and make them pay when you are going to also be able to claim against the Government for that particular senior citizen. That would be double pay; it can’t work, not ‘bout hay!” Mottley asserted at Thursday’s St George Speaks meeting at St George Secondary School. During the meeting, one resident complained that her elderly mother stopped travelling on the buses attached to the TAP programme because operators demanded that she pay bus fare even though she showed her national identification card. Minister Bradshaw, who also attended the meeting, said the Government was up-to-date with its payment to public service vehicle owners attached to the TAP programme. Chief Executive Officer of the Transport Board Fabian Wharton confirmed that the issue of TAP operators asking senior citizens for bus fares has been reported to the Board, and it is aware this has been happening in certain areas. Noting that the Government has spent a significant amount of money on the programme and has been going above and beyond to meet the demands of the TAP operators, Wharton said the Board’s management, in a meeting, made its position clear to TAP owners the practice cannot be allowed to continue. “We have had scenarios where TAP operators would have cussed old people, and we would have had the evidence, and we would have put those operators out of our system. Notwithstanding the fact that the legal relationship is between the owner and the Board, we would have taken action against the individual operator and warned the owner,” Wharton said. “As the Prime Minister said, it is a Transport Board bus, and all persons on the bus are expected to be treated with respect and treated the same way. So as soon as we receive those reports, we would normally investigate, and when we find out and substantiate, we take action. I cannot stand here in front of the whole country and pretend this is not happening; it is the truth. It is not widespread across the entire system; we have received some reports, and we are dealing with it.” Prime Minister Mottley suggested that the Transport Board engage in a public relations campaign to inform Barbadians that senior citizens, schoolchildren and police officers are allowed to ride for free on the buses attached to the TAP programme. “The cashless system would also allow us to appropriately audit and pay them properly for all of the senior citizens. So there is no excuse for them not taking the senior citizen’s identification card,” she said. The Prime Minister also announced that the Transport Board’s bus fleet would be further boosted with an additional ten electric buses from next month. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb]]>