Car theft, a growing concern among taxi drivers

Apr 06, 2009 News

Once again, taxi drivers are appealing to the police to put measures in place to help curb the increased incidence of car theft, which is being experienced since the beginning of the year, especially along the coast.
In many instances, the stolen cars are recovered, stripped of various parts, abandoned in remote areas. Conversely, some of the cars are repainted and then sold, many times, for a fraction of the cost of the vehicle.
This has raised concern among both taxi drivers and private car owners.
Speaking with a taxi driver, Kaieteur News was told that the general consensus among operators in Georgetown was that they were concerned over the seemingly large number of taxis, which had been attacked or stolen, in the past few months.
Additionally, it was noted that it was almost impossible to tell if the passengers that were picked up were criminal elements or not.
Taxi drivers, on the West Coast Demerara, expressed similar concerns. One of these drivers said that his car had been stolen recently, and since then he had been plying his trade in fear that he may fall victim to yet another car theft.
“The police have not made any progress in recovering the (stolen) car. I am sure by now it has already been repainted and sold,” said the distraught driver.
Despite his fears, the taxi driver said that he was forced to continue driving a taxi, to sustain his family’s daily expenses.
While there have been a number of measures, which the police had been trying to implement to curb the incidence of car theft, it has not been easy.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud previously noted that over the years, the police had tried a variety of things to combat carjacking.
Roadblocks had been suggested, where the passengers of the taxis would be searched, but many taxi drivers apparently did not like this idea, saying that it was bad for business, since their customers did not like being searched.
More recently, the idea of enclosing the taxi driver in a cage, similar to the way taxis are designed in North America, was touted but the cost of doing this was the deterrent.
“It is a cost which someone will need to incur,” said Persaud, “and I don’t think the government will bear that cost.”
He also said the idea of a panic button was discussed, where when pressed, a signal would be sent to the police, or to taxi bases, alerting them something was amiss. This too was apparently never put into action, largely due to the cost behind it.
According to Persaud, the police continue to work with their intelligence, and use descriptions of the carjackers to try to bring them to justice.
Carjacking has been a trend in Guyana since the late 1990s, and according to a senior police source, it is a copycat crime, which was brought to Guyana by many of the deportees that have been returned from North America.

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