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River taxis intended to bring BBCI to its knees – Rohee
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is supporting the demand by private minibus operators plying the Number 56 route (New Amsterdam – Rosignol). The party is also accusing the government of undermining the Berbice Bridge Company Inc. (BBCI).
The APNU+AFC Government recently implemented a river taxi service to help the masses in Berbice who complained about the high toll across the Berbice River Bridge.
Commuters aboard one of the water taxis.
Students, nurses, pensioners and other senior citizens using the boat service are quite satisfied with this intervening initiative. Other commuters pay a marginal fee.
The two contracted boats are can both seat 35. The boats are well equipped with safety gear to make the rides safe. Last week a third boat joined the service.
While commuters are happy, minibus drivers working Route 56 who would usually pick up passengers from Rosignol and take them straight to their destination are quite annoyed.
The drivers contended that the government is taking ‘bread from their mouths’.
Yesterday, PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee, at a press conference at Freedom House, said that the minibus operators have suffered a significant reduction in their daily operations as a result of the introduction of water taxis heavily subsidized by Guyanese tax dollars.
Rohee claimed that the river taxis were introduced to “get back” at the BBCI because the company has not agreed with the APNU+AFC political demand to reduce the toll for crossing the bridge.
The General Secretary went further to claim that the “introduction of the river taxis is to bring the company to its knees through economic pressure and political blackmail and to undermine the revenue stream of the Company.”
But he declined to admit that the Berbice Bridge Company was responsible for the state of affairs.
He said in the first instance it declined to lower the tolls across the bridge despite the fact that the company would not have lost money. The government was prepared to pay the difference between the existing toll and the lowered toll by way of a subsidy.
Rohee added, “The PPP supports the demands of the No. 56 minibus operators and that in the context of consultative democracy all stakeholders; including the government, the BBCI, the water taxis, the minibus operators and the residents in the community be consulted with a view to finding a win-win solution to the satisfaction of all.”
The river taxis represent a reduced cost of transportation across the Berbice River, something that the residents of Berbice clamoured for.
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