Cabbies honk against grant traffic
Published:Friday | November 11, 2022 | 5:57 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
The heads of two taxi associations believe the process for public transport operators to access $25,000 government COVID-19 cash grants is too cumbersome, possibly explaining why the roll-out has not been smooth.
Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke disclosed in Parliament on Tuesday that fewer than 7,000 applications have been received and that a significant portion of the $600 million set aside for the programme remains to be disbursed.
Clarke acknowledged that there may be challenges with the system and said some deeper analysis will be done.
Aron Mattis, president of the Spanish Town Taxi Association, said the current platform through which applications are processed is rejecting several public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators, disclosing that he has been waiting for several weeks to be cleared.
“I got through, but it stops there. Nobody has called me. I got a confirmation number and I’m waiting for about two and a half months going three months for someone to call me. They said they would email me or WhatsApp me and nothing,” Mattis said, adding that several of his colleagues are in a similar situation.
In some instances, operators received confirmation, but their names do not appear on the list for payment.
“When they go to LASCO Financial, they say their name is not on the list. It’s not that the persons are not taking it up. The system is set in such a way that you’re not getting it,” Mattis told The Gleaner on Wednesday, suggesting that the funds be disbursed through Transport Authority (TA) instead.
Raymond Bynes, president of the All-Island United Group Taxi Association, agreed that the TA, which regulates the public transport sector, would be the ideal entity to handle the disbursement.
“A lot of our members and [even those] outside of my association, members within the rural area and taxi operators in general, say they put in their application and a lot of them don’t get. They are told they don’t have driver’s licence with a PPV, and all those persons who submit have their licences. They have all the requirements,” Bynes insisted.
Bynes said that while he received his allocation, he is concerned about the estimated tens of thousands of operators who have not benefited.
He has called for the establishment of a transport cooperative credit union.
“If the Government is giving anything to the taxi men, whether is money, grant or anything, the TA headquarters is there. They have data on who have road licence. Is full time now for the TA to have our own little banking facility like a credit union. It’s a good idea,” Bynes said.
A route taxi operator who plies the Half-Way Tree to Mannings Hill Road route in St Andrew told The Gleaner that although he is a registered cab driver with an up-to-date road licence, the requirements are onerous.
“Man haffi have badge and dem something deh and me nuh have dem things deh. Just have me road licence. Mi only have me PPV,” he said, requesting that his name not be published.
Another operator argued that the grant is not going into the hands of the neediest cabbies.
“Dem a give man weh have badge and di poor man nuh have nuh badge. Maybe dem can gi di poor man so him can go get a badge with the money. We deh ya so, we nuh have nothing, but a we a move di people dem. Right now, me want one tyre and can’t buy it,” he said.
Another taxi operator said the Government knew that a large number of cab drivers would have been excluded from the initiative as the majority are not operating legally.
“One time $1,000 could move the needle to one stroke. Now a $2,000 alone move your needle,” he said, referring to high gas prices. “Taxi man nuh have no money fi get legal, but we important, and we would like to benefit from the grant. Me never get nothing yet from the Government from me born.”
The Government had expectations that just under 17,000 PPV operators would have benefited from the grants.