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The minibus strike and the plight of the commuters

Mar 10, 2011 Editorial

The minibuses plying the East Coast Demerara route have gone on strike leaving commuters stranded for long hours on the streets. This is not the first time that they have withdrawn their service and it is not likely that it will be the last.
The operators say that the high cost of fuel and spare parts has forced them to seek more money from the traveling public. They also say that it has been seven years since the last increase in fares and inflation would have eroded whatever profits they would have earned since that last increase.
At the same time, the commuters also have to cope with rising prices and inflation. Parents must also cope with growing children. But the operators of the minibuses would make the same charges. It is therefore rather strange that they ignore their living expenses and only concentrate on their operating costs.
For all this, the Ministry of Tourism which governs the operations of the minibuses is insisting that there should be no fare increase. He says that the drivers should engage in consultations with the Ministry instead of taking what he sees as a unilateral decision.
His argument is rooted in the fact that minibuses are imported duty free hence the operators have an obligation to the government. And he may have a point. If the operators had to pay the requisite duty then certainly the buses would have cost them more than twice that they do.
This, we could only assume, would have dictated a fare structure much higher than it is. It is this that causes the operators to believe that they are granting a nation a favour. They do not see themselves as making hefty profits.
We know that in cases where the minibuses are not owner driven, the owner demands a substantial rental that should cover the maintenance cost. The operator is responsible for the fuel that drives the minibus and for his own pay as well as that of a conductor. We know that the returns are substantial and for that reason there is always a rush by young men to pilot these buses.
The cost of spares has been unchanged ever since the introduction of the value added tax some four years ago. For the operators to cite this as an excuse for hiking fares is most unreasonable.
The price of gasoline has moved by no more than $200 per gallon, but it still costs less than $1,000 (US$5) per gallon. The last time the price touched that magical figure the operators moved to hike their prices. This time around one is left to wonder at the demand for higher fares.
One commuter correctly said that the government should reintroduce a system of public transportation. There is public transportation in almost every country. Guyana was no different. There was a railroad that connected to a public bus service. Later, after the railroad was scrapped the bus service continued and offered destinations to every major location in and around the country. These were later grounded largely because of maintenance issues. The government then concluded that it would be better if private people managed the transportation system. This might not have been a bad thing except that the people who managed the transportation system became more self centered instead of being people centered or nationalistic.
What they have going for them is the absence of competition and the fact that price controls no longer exist in Guyana. Price controls went out with the entering into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The abolition of such controls was once a criterion for access to IMF funding.
Last week, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that Guyana was free of the clutches of the IMF. However, this does not mean a return to price controls, something that would make it a criminal offence for the minibus operators to hike their fares outside the parameters set by the government.
President Jagdeo says that it would be too costly to implement and too labour intensive to monitor. The minibus operators are therefore left to police themselves and they are not doing a very good job.

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