THE public transportation system is of perennial concern to consumers. There are three areas of such transport which affect Guyanese: there is air travel, both internationally and locally; water transport, crossing the big rivers and travelling along the rivers themselves; and road transport, the most important element being the minibuses. In this offering, we will focus on the minibuses since they impinge on the lives of the overwhelming majority of citizens on an almost daily basis.

One of the first discomforts which greet commuters who join minibuses at the parks is the army of touts who pounce down on them, to literally drag them into the buses for which they work. These touts often have loud quarrels among themselves, occasionally breaking out into fights, over what they consider their territory. In the fray, young women are sometimes indecently assaulted.

But the problem is not merely uneducated and unskilled young men trying to earn a living; the problem is largely occasioned because there is no order among the buses. Each bus as it arrives begins to jockey with those who were there before and this results in three or four buses fervently trying to fill themselves simultaneously and in this struggle, they rely on the touts to bring in the passengers.

This accounts for the overzealous aggressiveness of the touts who are paid on the basis of how quickly they fill the bus for which they are working. This milieu contrasts with the UG bus park which is the only one which is run in an orderly fashion. The buses keep in line as they arrive with the last bus in line being the first to be filled. In this system, there is no need for touts so there are none of them. Establishing order among the buses and eradicating touting could only be achieved initially by police presence and by the buses themselves accepting the necessity for orderliness as they have done at the UG park.

The noise nuisance is one of the worst discomforts minibus travellers have to suffer. Almost all minibuses equip themselves with music systems from which they blare out loud and raucous music, and oftentimes vulgar and indecent songs. This music is played 100 to 130 decibels which impair hearing. When passengers complain, the conductors and drivers intimidate them with aggressive abuse or they sometimes reply that the passengers like such music and they would continue to play it.

Continuous exposure to 100 decibels or more has caused most drivers and conductors to become partially deaf. Passengers, even for one journey, are in danger of having their hearing impaired. Parliament had passed legislation many years ago to ban music and loud noises on the buses and for the seizure of noise-making instruments. When the legislation was passed, the police acted on it with some alacrity and commuters enjoyed relief for several months. The police must again begin their anti-noise campaign, especially now when we are at the threshold of the Christmas Season. If any passenger insists on having music when travelling, he or she should be recommended to have his or her tapes and earphones.

The buses are often dirty with unswept floors with an accumulation of food boxes and sweets and food wrappings. Some buses have attempted to place small bins in the buses but these could never be used since there is no central space to place such bins. The only answer to this problem is to sweep the floors every two or three hours and this could conveniently be done outside of the rush hours. In further improving the health standard of the buses, the conductors must ensure that the windows are kept open so that the bus could be ventilated by a free flow of air. If the windows are not properly opened, it allows for air-borne diseases such as colds to easily infect other passengers.

Many bus drivers drive recklessly and at very high speeds. This danger is compounded by the fact that most buses use second-hand or reconditioned tyres and never new ones. Second-hand tyres are inherently dangerous and have been responsible for many fatal accidents. Overloading not only inconveniences passengers, but it also makes the buses unsafe.

The Guyana Consumers Association has from time to time invoked the help of the police to deal with the noise nuisance and overcrowding but their help and assistance have only been sporadic.

The Consumer Department of the Ministry of Business led by Ms Cheryl Tinnis, Director of Consumer Affairs, has, over the years been battling with the minibus problems. Though Ms Tinnis is one of the most experienced and respected consumer advocates in Guyana, her efforts in dealing with the minibus problem have always had to be on-going as there could be no permanent solution. Late last month, the Minibus Association produced a Code of Conduct for the minibuses and they met the Ministry of Business at a meeting chaired by the Minister, Hon Dominic Gaskin. The minister gave some useful guidance and pointed out that the Union, the public and the government have to work together in addressing matters relating to minibus operations in the country.

At the meeting, Ms Tinnis outlined the many consumer complaints to the minibus operators and suggested how they could be addressed in the Code of Conduct. Among the many complaints, she underlined were speeding and reckless driving, touting, overloading, overcharging passengers within routes and extorting higher fares at night. Now that the Christmas holiday season with its plethora of traffic and minibus problems is a few weeks away, Ms Tinnis’ interface with the minibus operators was much appreciated by the consumer community.