Passengers ride for free as govt. moves to break minibus strike

Jan 13, 2011 News

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In a move that many described as breaking the back of a minibus strike, some passengers commuting the Lodge/South route travelled for free last night after Works Minister Robeson Benn provided several 32-seater buses to take them home.
The move by the Minister was in response to the apparent industrial action taken by minibus operators yesterday to protest against certain draconian measures taken by the administration following last week’s grenade explosion in the Stabroek Market area, which killed one man and wounded 19 other persons.
But there were contrasting views to the move to provide the buses with one section of the travelling public welcoming it while another section claimed that it was intimidatory.
The entire scenario was played out hours after the minibus operators met with Minister Benn to iron out differences.
While Benn is claiming that the bus operators had reneged on an agreed arrangement, the operators are angry at the provision of the big buses, since according to them they had already resumed working after leaving the meeting with the Minister.
According to Minister Benn he received information around 16:00 hours yesterday that the normal minibus operators had taken strike action and they had assembled at the square of the revolution.
He said that the issues in contention were the inadequate space on their parking area, after the police had occupied a large portion of the bus terminal with their mobile unit and the destruction of the sanitary facilities that served the Stabroek Market area.
Additionally, Benn said that the bus operators objected to the presence of the police.
“I said that that was non-negotiable… security was an overriding concern or else there would be no activity if there wasn’t security, and we were not going back to the situation which obtained up to the time we had the grenade explosion,” the Minister explained.
He said that the administration had addressed the concern about the sanitary facilities by providing portable ones which were leased from a private company.
“The facilities which were there before were condemned and removed and those posed a risk to public health,” he added.
According to Benn, the United Minibus Association had presented him with a letter advising that the route 41 and route 46 bus operators will withdraw their services for 48 hours and this prompted him to make the subsequent decision of providing the free transportation.
“I said I needed to know by six o’clock whether the people who are out here will be taken home or else I will provide transportation for free for these people,” the Minister told this newspaper.
He said that about 18:30 hours the minibus operators were still not back in operation despite a later assurance that they would have done so.
“There was a large number of people out here and I rolled in some buses, large buses to take people home for free.”
The Minister said that he hoped that by today the situation will return to normal and there would be no need for the government to be making similar intervention.
“We do not want to disrupt their activity but they (private minibus operators) have to provide public transportation service, since they don’t have proper grounds for the action that they took,” Minister Benn stated.
But the Minister’s position on the issue was contradicted by Eon Andrews, a senior executive of the United Minibus Association.
Andrews, speaking on behalf of the minibus operators, told this newspaper last night that after meeting with the Minister, they were satisfied with the agreements reached and pledged to resume working late yesterday afternoon.
“Suddenly we see eight big buses come out here. We were prepared to resume working. We had that agreement when we walked out of the meeting, and now we see these things turn up now,” Andrews related.
He said that the association members realized that the big buses provided by the government were taking passengers to their destinations free of charge and this prompted them to encourage persons not to fall prey to the plan.
However, several commuters took advantage of the free travel much to the frustration of the private minibus operators, who charged that the government is using taxpayers’ money to undermine their livelihood.
“We had a gentleman’s agreement, we had an understanding and I was surprised that this has happened,” Andrews told Kaieteur News.
“This is like the carrot and the stick. The government telling people we will give you free transportation to break the back of the union. There is nothing like a free lunch; the taxpayers will have to pay for it,” he added.
Commuters were also divided on the issue with some expressing thanks to the government while others saw the move as political intimidation.
Some commuters are of the view that since the government could afford to provide the big buses for free, they should implement the system permanently for a fee to ensure that private minibus operators do not take advantage of the travelling public.

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