– workers forced to pay double

By Indrawattie Natram

COMMUTERS utilising the transportation service in Region Two have raised several concerns pertaining to the sudden increase in fares.  Many of them, especially workers, are forced to pay double the fare to reach their workplaces.

Those who are predominantly affected include nurses and supermarket workers.

Stringent measures were taken by the Regional Health Emergency Committee to safeguard against the coronavirus pandemic. One such measure was for a taxi to take only two passengers and for minibuses to take half of the registered number of passengers. The operators were also advised to sanitise their cars and buses after each journey.

After these announcements were made publicly, drivers started to honour same but have increased their fares and many persons are feeling the burden from this move. A supermarket worker from Aurora said her transportation cost per day used to be $800 now it has increased to $1600.

“It really hard, we know the seriousness of the virus but we still have to work and then we have family to maintain, with the increase then we won’t have nothing to save,” another worker related. Other commuters have echoed similar sentiments about the increased fares.

When contact was made with chairman of the Essequibo Minibus and Hire Car Association, Mohamed Nazemul, he said no new fare structure has been introduced, nor does he have knowledge of any increase. However, he is calling on drivers to be lenient with passengers at this time.

He said drivers were also asked by the ‘G’ Division Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force to be lenient and to observe all necessary precautions against the virus. Nazemul is calling on fellow drivers to be a little more caring and not to exploit passengers.