Loaded payments - Opinions differ on fees charged by 'loader men'

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

A man believed to be a 'loader' (someone who urges potential passengers to go into a particular public-passenger vehicle) was dragged before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court recently, after it is alleged that he cut a bus operator in the face for not paying 'taxes' said to be owed to the man.

He has been charged with unlawful wounding and extortion and was
remanded by Senior Resident Magistrate Judith
Pusey.

The Crown alleges that on the day of the
incident, the bus operator and the alleged extortionist were involved in
an altercation and a knife was brought into play, which resulted in the
driver being slashed in the face over money the prosecutor identified
as 'taxes' that the bus operator was to pay the loader in order to
operate his bus.

The loaders, however, do not see the drivers
paying them as extortion. Last week in the late Thursday morning heat,
as a number of vehicles travelled through Half-Way Tree, loader men at
the Texaco service station on Eastwood Park Road were feverishly
jostling for passengers, announcing destinations
loudly.

"Whitehall! Price Right!" they bellowed, as
passengers boarded taxis going to one or the other destination. One of
the loaders, who gave his name as Shawn, explained that the men were
only out there doing their jobs and not extorting anyone. "I wouldn't
call it extortion. We show the people respect. We are not extorting any
taxi. It is a hard task. Imagine being in the sun, no shade and
shouting," he said, while pointing out that they are sometimes given $50
to fill a car.

When pressed as to why the police
would give them a hard time over filling the cars, Shawn, who has been
packing taxis for nearly three years, explained that this happens when
the police issue a directive which they fail to carry out. "Normally, if
they turn to us and say move the car and we are still doing it in the
same position, then they will bother us," he
said.

However, a taxi operator in the vicinity said
"sometimes they can go and look for work". He also said that the men
will demand money when only half the job is done. The police on duty,
ensuring that Coaster buses are properly queued alongside the Half-Way
Tree Transport Centre, said that there are some taxi men who hand over
funds willingly. However, there are others who are reluctant to do
it.

"I am not saying that it does not happen. If it is
not willingly handed over, then that is when that becomes extortion,"
the officer said.

At Chancery Street, commonly known
as Price Right (the former name of a popular supermarket in the area), a
taxi operator speaking on condition of anonymity pointed out that it
was not the loader men there who pose a problem but men from communities
off Red Hills Road. "Some men are charging the Coaster operators $1,000
and the little buses $500 a day. The taxi men are paying $300. If they
don't pay, it is as if the men want to war with them. About four years
ago a bus man was killed because of this," he
said.

"The loader man doesn't do that, they only load
and collect," he said.

An officer at the Constant
Spring Police Station said he was not at liberty to divulge information
about the
situation