The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I am Dehavilland Moss and I am a professional taxi driver. I sometimes work on Paradise Island, but my true love is working on Bay Street.

Bay Street is the hub of our tourism product due to the fact that most of the tourists who enter the Bahamas enter via The Nassau Harbour. We are literally welcoming millions of tourists annually via our cruise port.

Being a taxi driver in the downtown area is very challenging because of several factors.

Firstly, there are a lot of taxis that our tourists can choose from.

Secondly, tourists are being incorrectly advised about taxi drivers and they sometimes recite instances of persons saying “it’s too dangerous to catch a ride in a taxi”.

Finally, there is an ongoing fight to park on Bay Street because any and everybody would park in designated taxi spots.

Self drive cars, motor bikes, ATVs, regular cars, livery cars, tour cars, private schedule cars and even police cars park in taxi spots. In my view, there is generally a rank disrespect for taxi drivers by regular Bahamians, police officers and most notably some of the businessmen on Bay Street.

Every day that I work downtown, I see multiple traffic violations notably persons illegally parking in the designated taxi spots. I would try to find a police officer to deal with the situation, but little to nothing is done. I can recall countless occasions where I have told police officers of all ranks about persons illegally parked in taxi spots, but to no avail.

In addition, several taxi drivers and I have had minor confrontations with members of the public for wrongful parking. If and when the police arrive, no ticket is issued and the vehicle is not towed. The regular excuse used by the police is that they are ‘out of ticket books’ or that they ‘can’t’ locate a wrecker. This is unbelievable because as I implied earlier Bay Street is the Bahamas’ tourism mecca.

Just recently, a private car was parked by a jewellery store for about six hours. I told several police officers, but again nothing was done. The tourists on the ATVs park in taxi spots all the time but again nothing is done.

Businessmen who operate businesses on Bay Street park in taxi spots all the time and when the police are alerted, nothing is done. Note that I am speaking from first hand experiences.

Cars park in the loading zone for hours, but the police just casually walk by as if nothing is wrong. A loading zone as far as I am aware is for dropping off something, not an area where you can park for hours.

The police are supposed to enforce the law and maintain order, but, in my opinion, they are highly ineffective as it relates to this issue.

In another incident, a few weeks ago at the fish fry, one of my comrades was in an altercation with a member of the public who parked in a designated taxi spot. The altercation led to my comrade being hospitalized and even though persons had a jolly time laughing at him, he was speaking for hundreds of taxi drivers who are tired of the lack of respect persons have for designated taxi areas. I don’t advocate violence, but I can tell you that the police inaction is creating a melting pot.

Many taxi drivers and I are totally fed up with this issue. We drive up and down Bay Street trying to find parking and our frustration is mounting, especially when business owners on Bay Street, self drive cars and other vehicles are parked comfortably in our taxi spots.

I would like to add that if a taxi driver cannot park, he essentially will not be able to provide a living for himself or his family. When we park, we can talk to the tourists and try to get a taxi fare. The taxi spot is literally our office space.

Every time a non taxi is parked in a taxi spot, a taxi driver’s bottom line is being adversely affected because he has to burn extra gas trying to find a spot to park.

There is ample paid parking in the downtown area. They even have a valet parking service downtown now.

On the flip side, the police officers seemingly have a no tolerance attitude against taxi drivers. If a taxi driver violates the law, in most instances he or she will be ticketed. It seems as if the police hierarchy are hell bent on making examples out of us.

A few weeks ago I told four police officers that a private car was parked in a taxi spot. During my third drive around Bay Street I saw the officers again and they told me to park in a loading zone area for a minute. Then one of the officers told me that the car was owned by the manager of a jewellery store. I can’t repeat what I said, but this is the type of complicity that goes on daily. As I was parked in the loading zone, another police came to my car in a rage and asked me why I was parked there. He was hell bent on writing me a ticket. I told him that when he wrote my ticket, to write up one for the manager of the jewellery store at the same time. Of course no tickets were written.

Taxi drivers are human beings too. We pay mortgages, light bills, water bills, private school fees and even tithes. We are regular people hustling and trying to make a living to feed our families. We deserve to have the same protection under the law as other Bahamians.

I am a former marine and I am a law-abiding citizen but my confidence in the police is at a very low point. My fellow taxi drivers share the same view.

Some police officers would walk past you and would not even utter a word. I do believe that a lot of the police officers in the downtown area need more training because a lot of them are unfamiliar with the traffic laws of the Bahamas and even when they are familiar, there is an unwillingness to enforce the law.

I am calling on the relevant authorities to effect change in this matter, asap. We need law and order back on Bay Street.

DEHAVILLAND L MOSS

Nassau,

September 21, 2023.