At what cost is this new ‘free’ bus service being provided to the public?

Sep 19, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
Freeness from government is not really freeness. When it is a corrupt, self-serving government, it is usually a scheme to try to bribe taxpayers who are actually paying for this ‘free’ service with their own taxes.
Any economic action by government must be guided by principles of accountability, transparency, cost effectiveness, fairness and sustainability.
Thanks to the woeful PNC and PPP governments the minibus industry has become a largely rogue industry in this country, terrorizing the roads and arbitrarily imposing fare raises with much intimidation to the travelling public.
However, those painful realities about the minibus industry cannot be allowed as an excuse for government to engage in reckless, unfair, uneconomic and shady excursions with taxpayers’ money. On the face of it, this initiative of providing ‘free’ bus transport to commuters is a good gesture.
These people have actually paid for this service with the hefty taxes and VAT they pay to the government. The question is how is government really using taxpayers’ money with this move? Details, as expected, are missing.
Instead of the PPP government doing the right thing and buying a fleet of these buses and operating a proper public transport system that can compete effectively with the private minibus industry with the hope of replacing it in fair manner, the government is doing what it does best; provide contracts to a set of individuals who own these large buses with no transparency or competitive bidding surrounding these contracts.
We all know the PPP’s nefarious history with public contracts. This arrangement is right up that alley.
The other issue is fragility of this arrangement. If this does not pan out, the contractors will pull their buses away to more feasible engagements and commuters will return to the prior debacle. The fact that government refused to actually invest in buying these buses as opposed to contracting them stinks of electioneering and election gimmickry.
The public needs to know if this is yet another ploy to misuse taxpayers’ money for votes and even if it is not, the issue is whether this entire plan is economically feasible and competitive compared to the existing minibus industry.
The government is paying a handful of individuals who own these large buses for this service. The public needs to know what they are paying, how much, how often and what special advantages and concessions, such as duty free importation of these large buses, have been granted to these contractors. The public needs to know if any of these buses are being offered to the government at a reduced cost with the intent to garner long-term contracts or if the government has already foolishly signed these contracts without full public input and consultation.
We cannot replace an existing profitable private sector industry with another private sector industry enjoying special government privileges and protections. Taxpayers may actually be paying more for these ‘free’ rides than they pay their minibus operators when this deal is assessed on an equality basis. It is time the minister deliver the statistics and the opposition should be asking questions in Parliament on this deal.
M. Maxwell

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