The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE president of the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union yesterday rejected claims that the union is doing nothing to bring relief to taxi drivers facing adversity due to the government’s new stipulation that taxi drivers must now keep their cars in “immaculate” condition to pass inspection.

While admitting that the most recent inspection was the “harshest one yet,” Philip Watkins told The Tribune that any “undue pressure” being placed on taxi drivers as a result of the new requirements have “already been dealt with” by the union.

He said the union would stand on behalf of all taxi drivers - unionised or not - experiencing hardship as a result of the new stipulations. However, he said the union agrees with the government’s new requirements that speak to “the upgrade and the upkeep of the vehicles for the safety of the passengers”.

Mr Watkins’ comments come after a concerned Bahamian taxi driver expressed his discontent with the change, which he said has prevented numerous taxi drivers from passing their bi-annual inspections because of inconsistent assessments by various road traffic officers.

The taxi driver also stated that the union was doing nothing on the matter.

“All the complaints that came to my office, I got on the phone and called the controller and had them dealt with right away,” Mr Watkins said. “Now had he been a member of the organisation, or had he had the courtesy to just give me a call, or if he had some other pressing issue I could’ve dealt with although he’s not a member of the union.

“I do agree that this past inspection was more vigorous and more detailed than ever before. I’ve seen over the years where inspectors would have said to you ‘now, because this little item here, I’ll let you slide with this but when you come back in October have this item fixed.’ But over the years there have been vehicles that had a valid sticker placed on it and everyone’s question was how in the world it could’ve gotten a valid sticker based on the condition it was in.”

He added: “We speak on behalf of drivers, whether they’re unionised or not, because we feel the drivers out there are making an honest living, and any undue pressure placed on the drivers we are not going to stand for.”

Last week, taxi driver Lamorn Rolle told The Tribune that people were upset over the government’s new requirements, which he said now require taxi drivers to keep their cars in “immaculate” condition to pass inspection without even specifying just what that means.

He further blamed the government for not instituting a scale or some form of rubric that would allow officials at the Road Traffic Department to give an informed assessment of the state a taxi should be in.

Mr Rolle said that to date, numerous taxi drivers have experienced difficulties in passing the bi-annual inspections because of inconsistent assessments by various road traffic officers.

He also claimed that new taxi plates are not being issued because of a perceived glut in the system. He claimed that “some 1,200 plates” were issued out in years past, with only 800 currently in use.

However, Mr Watkins said this figure was wrong, adding that the Road Traffic Department is working on a computerised system that will help determine how many taxis are on the road.