THE Guyana Taxi Service Association (GTSA) has renewed its quest to have all vehicles used for hire to be sprayed in yellow and regularise what was agreed between former President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2010.

At that time, Mr. Jagdeo had said the regularisation of taxis would not only modernise services but could also spiral into the establishment of a Police standing order and develop the country’s tourism sector.
He had proposed that all the hire cars be colour-coded in yellow with a visible logo. Other proposals included that the drivers be uniformed and passengers prevented from occupying front seats.
The plan to put the vehicles in the official yellow colour would have earned incentives, waivers in fees for revenue licences, a two-year free radio frequency licence and a 25 percent reduction for imports for taxi usage.
Jagdeo had also promised that he would have instructed the Commissioner General of Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to grant concessions for spray painting and make companies reduce the cost of spraying.
According to Patrick Brassington, the ex-President of the GTSA, at a meeting with the executive members, when the Government announced the proposals, most taxi services had jumped on board and resprayed their cars in yellow.
Plan crashed
But the plan crashed in 2011, when many drivers refused to comply, declaring they were just propositions and not law. As a result, the services which went yellow lost over 50 percent of their fleet.
Executive member of GTSA, Mr. Mulshankar Persaud said: “Our cars pulled out and went on the road while others joined services that did not demand that they spray over in yellow.”
He added that the stopping of taxis being sprayed in yellow was because the Government lapsed in seizing the opportunity to legalise something that would have not only boosted tourism in Guyana but created order.
Persaud said, even though the GTSA had undertaken numerous outreaches, taxi services had refused to comply, arguing that it was too costly to repaint.
“To spray a car would cost over $100,000 and most of the drivers said that they can’t afford that,” he reported, lamenting that the increase in taxi services in Georgetown has even caused his service to hire vehicles not painted in yellow.
Stepped up
He said: “My service started to take in a few cars that were not yellow because the competition had stepped up and the customers’ demands are there. There was no other alternative.”
Currently, there are only three taxi services in Guyana that fully comply with providing yellow cab services, Brassington stated.
Meanwhile, one of the other GTSA members admitted that he declined to go with the majority.
“I’m sticking with it even though it’s saturating my income,” the man said.
Persaud indicated, though, that the Association will continue to lobby for the regularising of the yellow colour-code and that they are engaging with the Ministry of Home Affairs to take a stance and legalise it.
However, the Ministry has informed them that it was unable take a position on the matter at the moment.
“It leaves the association in a position to carry the burden of ensuring that taxis comply and stay in compliance. We have done outreaches to highlight the benefits of going yellow,” Persaud claimed.
He insisted that, if all taxis provided yellow cab services, it would heighten tourism in the country and make it safer for customers.
The commuters would feel safer travelling in a yellow taxi with a visible logo, said Ms. Dawn Alert, Secretary of the GTSA.
She said: “If you forget your purse or a bag in a yellow cab, then you could easily call back that taxi service and collect your belongings. But if you catch a regular taxi then you are at risk.”
Alert urged all passengers to make the Jagdeo initiative become law and take a stance to have a visible logo imprinted on the vehicle to safeguard themselves.