HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, has said that government may have to reduce the excise tax on gasoline all the way to zero if the price of fuel continues to climb and if the minibus operators continue pressing the travelling public for new fares. He spoke after the hosting of his post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President on Thursday.
Dr. Luncheon, also Cabinet Secretary, said that inasmuch as the government may try to coerce the minibus operators by suggesting to them that fare increases may be met with increased police scrutiny, there is no way the government could “force” the bus operators to comply.
He explained that this is because bus fares are not subject to any regulatory framework in the way that utilities such as light, water and telephone services are regulated by the Public Utilities Commission.
What more do people want from government and the travelling public to make them understand what is going on globally?
Here in Toronto Canada our government couldn’t care less what gas price goes up to and will not give any tax breaks on motorists.
Just recently the Ontario government passed new legislation declaring the Toronto Transit Commission an essential service and banning its workers from walking off the job and going on their wild-cat strikes.
The same laws should be passed in Guyana so that unscrupulous bus owners cannot take advantage of the travelling public.
What minibus operators are doing to the travelling public has gone past eye pass and a full stop should be put to it immediately.
Minibus operators must come to realise that while they up their fares,   the wages of members of the travelling public  are not going up.
In this global crisis minibus operators like everyone else must share the pain and the burden heaped upon all.
They are nothing but selfish, zealous gluts and it’s about time government steps on them to make them understand that every body is in the same boat as they are.