— following road markings by City Hall
A move by City Hall to make road markings on the University of Guyana (UG)-Industry bus park, giving Industry operators first preference to passengers, has drawn criticisms from UG operators and the United Minibus Union (UMU).
At the UG-Industry Park on Tuesday morning, UMU President Eon Andrews, Industry minibus operators and other UMU representatives gathered to discuss the matter with the media.
The arrangement made with City Hall resulted in the road marking ‘Industry only’ being placed at the front of the line of the UG-Industry park for which the Industry bus operators are paying a monthly $3,500 fee for exclusive occupation.
This was done after Industry bus operators complained to City Hall that they were at the losing end of the previous first-come-first-served system.
They say that the UG-Industry busses, which are more in number, take passengers from both areas, leaving none to the operators heading only to Industry.
However, Andrews said he is unsure whether this move by City Hall is legal as he was told by a Ministry of Public Infrastructure representative that the ministry, in conjunction with the police, is the only body with authority to place road markings on the park which is government property.
Present on the park on Tuesday was the ministry’s Senior Projects Engineer Kester Hinds who said he was there only to observe and to get an understanding of the situation.
Andrews further explained that the conflict began when busses from the Vryheid’s Lust Park were invited over to the UG-Industry Park following a shortage of UG busses.
The UMU still needed to fulfill its contractual arrangement to provide transportation to the university.
The UMU president said the Industry minibus operators in question were all once a part of the union’s UG arrangement but were terminated after they were found in breach of the Subcontract Agreement Code of Conduct.
The Code of Conduct includes a number of rules and regulations such as no driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol; uniformity at all times; no loud music; no indecent language; no passenger favouritism and more.
Back in 2013, bus drivers from the UG branch became the first group of minibus operatives to wear zone uniforms which include green jerseys and caps bearing the union’s logo.
BEWILDERED
Andrews said he is bewildered as to why the City Council would step in to create confusion where there was previously order.
“I don’t understand how you can have a well-arranged disciplined form of persons, well uniformed being treated like a step child. Then you have the delinquents, they’re just talking about who they’re going to kill and who they’re going to shoot,” he said.
He added: “I am concerned that City Hall always seems to be involved in contentious issues. I think they have enough on their plate for them to get involved in this but I hope that the pull factor is not this $3,500 to whom it goes because we sent persons in there. Our secretary and nobody is saying that they know anything about this. The constabulary, the engineer department, nobody is acknowledging this, so who is the person they’re paying this $3,500 to?”
Meanwhile, UMU Branch Chairman of UG Transport Service Mark De Lima said the Industry minibus operators practice racism and other forms of discrimination.
“We’re a part of a Code of Conduct, we have obligations to meet in a positive manner but we’re being victimised… the union is calling for justice. You cannot mark-up no street, it’s illegal,” De Lima said.
Andrews said although Town Clerk Royston King would have met with the Industry bus operators to make the arrangement, he refuses to meet with the UMU.
“He doesn’t want to reach with us. We’ve made attempts as a union to speak with him [Royston King], he doesn’t reach with us,” Andrews said.
On the other hand, several Industry minibus operators who were terminated from the union due to misconduct were eager to tell this newspaper their side of the story.
ARRANGEMENT NECESSARY
One Industry bus operator Toolsie Ramkissoon, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said the arrangement with City Hall was necessary to ensure Industry bus operators have a fair chance at earning a living.
“The UG busses full very fast. When we move one time they move three times. The Industry [bus operators] are few; it’s a little area with 16 busses working. So when you meet up into the line now, we have no passengers,” Ramkissoon said.
As such, he said a group of representatives met with the town clerk and mayor a few weeks ago and received confirmation that City Hall would proceed with the marking of a special area for Industry bus operators only.
The operators also say that they are willing to work along with the union but were thrown out by the chairman and had their UG bus stickers removed for “simple things”.
City Hall has since told this newspaper that the town clerk will be issued a statement on the matter.
