Urgent PSV reform call after ZR overturns with children aboard

Child rights advocate Faith Marshall-Harris on Tuesday urged immediate government action to tighten regulation of the public service vehicle (PSV) industry after a ‘ZR’ route taxi carrying only schoolchildren overturned outside The Lester Vaughan School, injuring several students and triggering a mass casualty response.

Faith Marshall-Harris, an expert member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child said the long-standing failure to protect schoolchildren from reckless operators has reached a crisis point.

She told Barbados TODAY she was “somewhat in despair” that more than a decade after first raising concerns about ZR operators and the safety of students as a juvenile court magistrate, little has changed.

“That was a long time ago, more than ten years ago when I was concerned about the whole situation with the ZR drivers and the school children,” she said. “But a decade is now more than past and it still hasn’t been resolved.

So I hope some regulation can come because I suspect this is the biggest event that occurred.”

The latest crash, in which a ZR overturned with 25 students and the driver aboard, should serve as a turning point, Marshall-Harris said.

“A lot of what happened before was on an individual basis,” she noted. “So this now involves so many children and I hope something can be done. There have been individual incidents along the way which affected various children, individual children. But I suspect this will be a catalyst for greater attention.”

She expressed concern about the behaviour and accountability of PSV operators, saying their responsibility extended beyond driving. She said reports of PSV workers using illegal substances while on duty were deeply troubling.

“There has been anecdotal evidence that drivers are consuming intoxicating beverages. They’ve even had reports of drivers and conductors smoking weed as they travel,” she said. “Just last week someone told me she had to get out of a ZR because of the smoking of weed by the people operating the ZR. When I say that is anecdotal evidence, I don’t know that this is so in this particular (Monday’s) case.”

The child rights advocate urged that this latest tragedy serve as a “teachable moment”, pressing for stronger oversight and enforcement to ensure the safety of children who rely on PSVs daily.

“I hope that this is a teachable moment that we have got to have stricter control over what is happening,” she said.

Her call was echoed by the National Council of Parent Teacher Associations (NCPTA), which issued a statement expressing deep concern and solidarity with the affected families.

“The National Council of PTAs expresses deep concern and heartfelt solidarity with the families, students and the school community affected by the ZR minibus accident,” said General Secretary Nicole Brathwaite. “We are grateful that lives were spared and we extend our prayers for full recovery, physically and emotionally, for all involved.”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb