Fare increases to suck more blood from Guyanese

Aug 24, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
Government has met with the mini bus so-called union to increase twenty dollars on their fares and create more hardship on the working class.
In reality, the average man may end up paying at least one hundred and twenty dollars more a day. Some people have to use three or four means of transportation to reach either to work or home, especially those living in new schemes and those in the West and East Bank of Demerara and East Bank Essequibo. With the increase, no doubt the ‘short drop’ cars would also increase their fares which is already above the average presently. There are some buses that work long distances and their fares are rounded off to the closest hundred. Do you believe they will let it remain the same? Given the culture of the operators, I know they will not and they will increase it more than the agreed twenty dollars and they would cite the distance to suck the blood out of people.
Editor, to polish the increase off and defend their actions, the mini buses make a lot of promises about regulations for the buses and they believe that the travelling public are morons. They take it on their own to increase fares before and also make similar promises but the situation remains the same in terms of overloading, appearance, attitude towards commuters. There is also the headache of travelling in buses that the seat seems to be made of iron which causes tremendous discomfort when you sit and the buses goes over bumps, holes etc. Some buses cause material and physical damage to commuters because of some piece of iron or welding, or some bolts are extra-long and they don’t see the need to modify/rectify it.
I’ve said before, there are too many buses on the road and there will always be a ‘fight down’ among one another to make more trips. Instead of the unions ensure that they put a limit on buses to work a zone, they seek to pressure the public. It’s real hardship for us. They only sit back and use situations to seek increase fares while the majority of working people’s salaries are the same for years, while they increase at least three times.
Yours Faithfully
Sahadeo Bates

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