– begin wearing uniform in support of it

A FEW of the minibus drivers of Route 42 (Georgetown to Timehri) on Monday signalled their endorsement for bus drivers to start wearing uniformed attire and adhere to other provisions contained in the imminent Minibus Code of Conduct, noting their hope that the implementation of regulations will also help to ease some of the problems currently facing them at their bus park.

The drivers donned matching T-shirts and caps affixed with the logo of the United Minibus Union (UMU), the only group recognized to negotiate on behalf of the minibuses.

Apart from noting the insufficient space provided for buses at the temporary Route 42 park, drivers also complained about the bullying by some drivers since there is no proper line system in place on the park, and noted their wish to see the situation whereby touts, who are paid to load buses, are removed.

The call for minibus drivers to start wearing uniformed attire is one of many proposals contained in a recently drafted “Minibus Code of Conduct” brought about by consultations between the Ministry of Business, the UMU, the National Road Safety Council and the Guyana Police Force Traffic Department.

President of the UMU, Eon Andrews, was present at the bus park on Monday to listen to some of the concerns of the drivers and get feedback on how they felt about the Code of Conduct, which is expected to be signed and go into effect within the first quarter of the year.

In addition to requiring uniforms, the Code calls for drivers and conductors to have their fare structure properly displayed and to desist from playing loud music and overloading the buses. The Code also advises on proper ways in which they should handle passengers, making special provisions for the elderly and disabled.

Minibus drivers at the Route 42 bus park have been complaining about their situation for some time now.

The Route 42 minibuses were formerly located at Russell Square, West of Parliament Building, however, in August of last year, the buses were barred from using that area by the Mayor and City Council (MCC) which converted the area into a market square for vendors who they relocated from the dangerously dilapidated Stabroek Wharf.

At that time, the then Town Clerk, Royston King, promised that the M&CC would look into finding another area for the minibuses to operate. However, since then the buses have been occupying several temporary parks, finally settling on occupying an area on Bungle Street and a section of Water Street. However, the drivers continue to note that the space is insufficient to accommodate the many buses plying the route.

“I don’t know who tell M&CC to trouble these people, but this confusion has been created. I’ve always said that this country has more bus than it needs, it’s just that there are certain areas where persons do not work beyond 4 or 5 o’clock. You find it appears as though there’s a [shortage] of buses. But there are times when East Coast buses would create a situation, staying on the East Coast for a while so that the crowd could build up in town so that they can call for this $200. So there are many things that happen that needs to be addressed,” explained Andrews.

Route 42 driver Quincy Welcome noted that the lack of a line system, which would give all drivers their fair chance to full their buses, leaves for a system of bullying and chaos to prevail in its place. This, he said, leads to physical confrontations between the drivers. .
“We do not have a turn [system]. Some of the workers there create a turn system for themselves but eventually break it themselves and it cause a lot of problems; it could even cause bloodshed. Umpteen time people fight with each other. Even though we know each other for some time, you still find people fighting against each other. There should be a turn system set up there to maintain order, to prevent people fighting against others for passengers, because it’s not nice,” Welcome noted.

Another driver, Felix Walker, noted that when the drivers tried to create a turn system among themselves, it was the “touts” who disrupted the system because it interfered with how they make their money.

“We had an orderly system and when the touts realise they getting forced out, they come and create mayhem between the drivers. That’s how we’re in this confusion right now,” Walker remarked.

A regular feature on all bus parks around the Stabroek Market area, touts load the minibuses on the park and are in turn paid a fee each time they load a bus. The more buses they load and the faster they do so, the more money they make, as such, touts are often aggressive in how they solicit passengers.

Touts are known for enticing passengers to leave one bus for another and in some cases they guide passengers on the wrong bus, simply to make their load faster.
Paul Leonard, who has been working the Route 42 for some four years now, says his biggest concern is that there are various sub-routes within the 42 route and certain routes are encroaching on others.

“It’s a lot of branches come off of the 42 route; it got ‘Short to Grove’, Mocha, Timehri, ‘Diamond inside’, and Eccles,” Leonard explained. He said he operates “Short to Grove” and that sub-route has been facing pressure from the Mocha buses.

“When we deh hey we tek about three hours to make one load, and they make about five to six trips because they not working Mocha alone, they working short. When they snatching the short ones [passengers] and we waiting for the Grove passengers, we waiting three hours. That’s why we does gah end up going on the hot plate and going all about, all about and then the police running we. But we got to do that to survive ‘cause staying here for three hours for a load is pressure. The Mocha buses would come in you line, but you can’t go in their line; they want fight, they want bore yuh wheel, all kinds a thing,” Leonard stated.