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Police to sustain campaign against touts- Traffic Chief –unlawful parking amongst issues to be addressed
Touts and minibus drivers/conductors are once again under police radar as citizens speak out against unlawful parking and
Touts in action yesterday at the Stabroek, Georgetown Market Square.
bullying of passengers.
In an interview yesterday morning, Traffic Chief, Superintendent, Linden Isles, noted that his department will be upping the ante against touts by targeting the various bus parks, and also against drivers /conductors who encourage unlawful parking.
Yesterday the Traffic Chief noted, that it was a direct violation of the traffic laws to block any roadway or street used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians.
He was responding to reports about yesterday’s scene at STABROEK Market where Route 45 bus drivers completely blocked the road by parking just about anywhere they pleased.
Observations revealed that the drivers were deliberately parking in the path of each other, thus preventing vehicles behind them from passing until the illegally parked had managed to fill their vehicles with passengers.
Periodical campaigns against touts and unruly bus drivers/conductors seem not to be working. The Traffic Chief noted that only sustained action and presence of police ranks can eradicate this problem.
Unlawful parking caused traffic congestion yesterday at Stabroek Market Square
Drivers had completely blocked the road, disrupting the flow of traffic for almost 15 minutes or more. During the melee that followed, impatient and angry drivers wanting to pass honked their horns, and shouted obscenities, but to no avail as the touts continued their raucous rampage of grabbing and roughing up passengers at their will and fancy.
As our reporter took photos, apparent female associates of the touts shouted, “Look dah big man tekkin alyuh photos. Who de hell is he?”
It was the same scene yesterday at the Plaisance, Sophia, East Coast and South Ruimvelt minibus parks as touts, drivers and conductors combined, contributed to a quite disorderly upheaval at each location.
The publication interviewed several persons on the bus parks yesterday, and the consensus was that the Police Traffic Department needs to implement a very aggressive and sustained campaign against minibus touts/conductors/drivers that create chaos and disorder on the bus parks.
Persons were of the view, yesterday, that criminal elements customarily used the confusion on the bus parks to their advantage, robbing passengers in the process. Others are of the opinion that the touts themselves are thieves and would steal from customers as they forcibly push them into buses of their choice.
One woman noted that every time a story came to light in the media the police would normally launch a campaign, only to see it dwindle and disappear after a few days.
She added that this kind of a practice gives the touts the idea that the police are just ‘playing around’, and as such, the touts return after a very brief hiatus to further heighten their trade, seemingly thinking that the police are not serious.
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