DRIVERS plying the Linden to Georgetown route in hire cars on Monday held a protest action in front of the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LMTC) to express their disagreement with the decision to have them relocated to the stipulated Linden/Georgetown Park.
The drivers attached to the Linden to Georgetown Hire Cars Association bemoaned the decision made by the Council, claiming that it was done without any consultation. The drivers, who have been operating from the hire car park with regular taxis at the Coop- Cresent area, were summoned by the Council to move to the gazetted Linden/ Georgetown bus park where the mini-buses operate from Republic Avenue.
Linden Mayor Carwyn Holland, during a recent press conference, said that the decision was made to bring order in the town. “We are trying to bring some order in the transportation system, as you know, along that Coop Cresent. As you know is not a park where we are allowed to collect revenue…where we can keep in control. We don’t have a system there as we have on the two parks, so that…we are trying to bring some order to the way it is done and to put those drivers back on the Georgetown-Linden bus park so we can put some order to the transportation sector.
President of the Region 10 Hire Car Association, Vernon James, on Monday cited many reasons to this publication as to why the drivers are not in agreement with moving to the park. James said that the decision is not only a unilateral one, but is also arbitrary and discriminatory. He said that since the Council is in authority and also has the police to represent them, the drivers have been left basically unrepresented. The president said that the drivers are willing to meet a consensus with the Council but is as if it is at a dead end, since the decision has been made. “We are trying to reach a nice conclusion, but it doesn’t appear so, because the conclusion is that we should go into the park…..this thing is being done in the interest of some, not all; there are some biases here,” James posited. He said that such a decision should allow for all the hire cars to move and not just those plying the Linden to Georgetown route, since the others plying ‘around the town’ can remain without being charged revenue.
When asked why the drivers refuse to go into the gazetted park, James said that putting the buses and cars together, is like adding smoke to fire. “The cars and the buses had previous issues whereby some of my colleagues were beaten by the bus drivers, by the touts, there were a lot of issues, and we are trying to avoid that,” he said. “Do you know how many fights I passed in Georgetown between the car drivers and the mini-bus driver?”
The drivers said that the issue is not about revenue collection, since they opted to the Council to collect the revenue at their present location. They added that they are forced to go into the park that does not have the necessary facilities and even though the cars are waiting for this to happen while continuing to park at their regular location, they are already facing persecution from the law. “You could imagine one of my colleagues came into the car park and he was charged; a hire car for parking in a hire car park?” James related
Meanwhile, mini-bus drivers did not join the protest but many are of the opinion that the cars should not come on the park either. While the mini-buses and the big buses held the monopoly for the route for decades, in 2015, some hire cars started plying the route and this has increased in folds since then, thus taking many mini\-buses out of business. The drivers engaged several authorities on the issue and even formed their own association in an effort to regain their shares in the transportation sector in Linden. Former president of the Region 10 mini-bus association, Elvis Lorrimer, had told the Guyana Chronicle that the situation was unbecoming since many drivers were unable to make one trip per day, since the cars took over. Many of these drivers were still paying for their mini-buses and the few that battled the storm are of the opinion that with the cars coming on the park, the situation might get worse.
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle anonymously on Monday was one driver who was on the park for over three hours waiting for the bus to be filled. “Everybody have varying views. Some people saying that they should start paying revenue like us; some people saying if they come here, the bus work will done. For me, I believe that they should stay, let we have our peace, let them stay so and we stay hay, because I done see problems gon come,” the driver explained. President of the Hire Car Association, James, however said that the buses also at one time took away the monopoly from the big buses that plied the route at one time and should not complain. “This is life where everything recycles, today for me tomorrow for you, but we can work in cohesion with each other,” he said. Mayor of Linden, Carwyn Holland, invited the drivers into the LMTC chambers for a meeting after the protest where they further deliberated on the issue.