Westmoreland cabbies continue Public Order Reset pushback
Published:Tuesday | October 25, 2022 | 12:09 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Several commuters were left stranded on Monday as taxi operators in Westmoreland withdrew their services in their continued pushback against the Public Order Reset campaign, claiming that they are being penalised for finding alternative locations for picking up and setting down passengers, although the Savanna-la-Mar Transport Centre cannot accommodate all the vehicles.
The public passenger vehicle operators argue that they are also no longer allowed to travel along Great George Street, even though they have passengers who want to disembark in downtown Savanna-la-Mar.
But Senior Superintendent Wayne Josephs, head of the Westmoreland Police Division, is adamant that public order must return, even though he acknowledged that the issues raised by taxi operators on the Whitehouse to Savanna-la-Mar route are genuine.
“I see where it needs some adjustment. I came here this morning and some of the issues about letting off at the transport centre for people to get downtown, it is really an issue,” Josephs told taxi operators who marched on to the compound of the Transport Authority on Barracks Road to raise their concerns.
Since the Westmoreland police and the municipal corporation started the campaign on October 18, several taxi operators have been ticketed or have had their vehicles seized for traversing on Great George Street.
“Public order must come back in the town. There is no compromise where that is concerned,” Josephs insisted. “ ... I have to enforce the rule of law, and right now, your road licence says you are not to go downtown.”
EXTRA CHARGE
Taxi operator Ryan Grant told The Gleaner that given the poor condition of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC)-operated transport centre, the authorities should allow them to continue to provide services along Great George Street until March 31, 2023, when their road licences will expire, as they work out a solution.
He said that passengers are now being charged an extra $100 to go downtown to access services such as banking, pay utility bills and even for municipal services, which are all located at the southern end of the town, while the transport centre is at the north.
Chairman of the National Council of Taxi Operations Business Committee, Patrick Forrester, wants the WMC to carry out remedial work on the transport hub.
“We have health issues over there, the surface is not good, when it rains, it floods,” he said, adding that it is very dusty when dry.
Forrester said a meeting is set for next Sunday with all parties to see how the issues can be addressed.
“The routes ... need to be adjusted because in the culture of Savanna-la-Mar, we have uptown operators and we have downtown operators. Vehicles need to go down there, so by whatever means, I am advocating for all of you who had Great George Street on it (road licence) and it has been removed, that it goes back on it,” said Forrester, who is also head of the Petersfield Taxi Association.