HIRE car drivers in East Berbice, Corentyne, staged a protest at the Tain Koker, Tain, Corentyne, on Tuesday against the ban on used tyres; they also claim that they are being forced to make contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).

Drivers who operate mostly the New Amsterdam to Corentyne and Corentyne district route, expressed their dissatisfaction with the ban on used tyres and described the move as “unfair and unaffordable.”

Yadram Latchmannarine, 61, said it is not feasible for hire car drivers to purchase new tyres at the cost of $25,000 each, when they work for an average of $3,000 per day.
“I barely making it when the day come, this is gonna cause more struggle,” the elderly man said.
Drivers complained that on April 10, 2017, there was a police roadblock at Dr Tulsi Street, Williamsburg and at Spready’s, Port Mourant, where ranks seized their licences. According to the drivers, they were not told the purpose of the roadblock, but were instructed to speak with the NIS representatives who were present at the roadblock.

Totaram Seeram, a driver, explained that he was given a letter, which stated that it is compulsory for him to pay the NIS monthly at the cost of $8600.
“Them give me de paper saying I gonna have to pay over $8,000 before, or on April 18. I ain’t understand this …then them say we gonna have to start producing and showing paper that we paying NIS. This road hard, we can’t afford to do that. Soon we gonna start eat people how things hard,” the upset man said.

Another driver, Samuel Ward, related that he too was confused by the police road- block and that his licence was seized; he was also told to speak to the NIS representatives.
“Them collect me licence and start fulling out a form without telling me nothing. The guy who handle me was rude…just like that them gonna impose this on people… this will not be feasible for hire car drivers to pay, given the circumstances we are going through.”
The drivers are peeved that the NIS did not see it fit to consult with them first before implementing the new measure.

“I don’t know how much of this idea was shared with the public or the Hire Car Association, or if under the law we have to do this. They just stopped the drivers yesterday [Monday] and imposed this on them. I have been a hire car driver for the past eight years and nowhere did I hear or see this. Because I know it’s up to hire car drivers if he wants to pay self-employed that would have been acceptable, but for these people just to come now and make this an order is unacceptable. Even If they wanted to make it compulsory then they needed to let people know,” one driver said.

Meanwhile, also present at the protest was former Regional Executive Officer (REO), Dr Veersammy Ramayyah, who said that the government should act on the issues affecting the Berbice Car Association.

“The fact is you pay NIS based on the income you earn, not assumed NIS and this is exactly what they have done here,” Dr Ramayyah said.

The drivers are calling on the relevant authorities to look into the matter and vowed to continue their protest action if there is no action.