-COVID-19 and the minibus culture

GUYANA has always had an unpleasant history of gross minibus culture, and, with the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, operators are still not fazed.

The President of the United Minibus Association, during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, revealed that despite the continuous spread of the deadly disease, several minibus operators are still not adhering to the measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Andrews was optimistic that the pandemic would have prompted minibus operators to be more compassionate to their passengers, as a means of putting their safety first during the health crisis; however, there are still a few operators who work without wearing face masks and are overloading their buses.

He said it is the “dog-eat-dog, hustle” mentality that keeps some operators from following the necessary protocols.
“The minibus persons and their sector [are] not disciplined enough to enforce the rules, because what you find is that they are just thinking about making money; I mean there are a few decent drivers and decent operators.”

‘NO MASK, NO RIDE’
Reiterating that it is the ‘hustle mentality’ that keeps operators from placing their health and the health of others first, Andrews said, “There are still buses that are accepting people in the bus without mask, buses are leaving the parks with the correct amount of passengers only to go a few miles and pick up more passengers.”

He added, “If one should turn up to a bus with no mask, you should not accept them, but they are not doing that, unless there are serious penalties attached to transgressors, it’s not going to stop.”
Andrews said commuters have to be cognisant of the fact that everyone is travelling to and from different places on a daily basis, hence it is mandatory to wear a face mask when travelling in public transportation.

“There is no sector more important than the minibus sector and the minibus service providers, because you have people coming from everywhere and going everywhere,” he said.

According to Andrews, various complaints show that Guyana’s minibus culture is still based on the ‘hustle’ and not people’s safety. Nevertheless, he noted that there are a few operators who are adhering to the measures – a sign that there is still hope for the culture to change.

“There are some buses who give persons masks. For example, I went to Berbice and there was a passenger who came in the bus without a mask, but the driver of the bus had a box of masks and gave him.”

Andrews further disclosed that heavy touting is also a concern, since several visits to the various parks revealed that touts are rarely found wearing masks, even though the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has been clamping down on them.