– Home Affairs ministry
THE Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) yesterday announced that the agreed colour code, corporate yellow, applies only to taxi services and taxis associated with a service; not to owners of personal hire cars, mini-buses, and tapirs that are being used for public transportation.
Owners of taxi services are also advised that a waiver of fees for revenue licences, road service licences, certificate of fitness and radio spectrum will be granted for a two-year period, according to the Government Information Agency (GINA).
However, GINA said this waiver is conditional to the fulfillment of the usual requirements by the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Police Force.
Owners of taxi services are urged to cooperate with this regulation which comes into effect from August 01, 2010, by ensuring that all taxis associated with a service are of the designated colour.
In 2009, President Bharrat Jagdeo convened a meeting with owners of taxi services around the country in a bid to initiate a partnership agreement with the view of modernising the services provided to customers.
A number of proposals were discussed including installation of meters to determine mileage and cost, uniform, installation of flex glass, no passengers in the front seat, installation of the service’s official logo and repainting all taxis in one common colour.
However, it was agreed that the repainting of taxis would be mandatory, while the others could be complied with by choice as Government does not want to exert undue pressure on taxi drivers.
Taxis that are in a specific colour will be entitled to special privileges and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will work towards a better relationship with drivers of one-colour taxis. Further, Government will also be financing training sessions on subjects such as first aid training and customer service.