The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister says it is a “priority” to find the correct “balance” between taxi drivers and the Nassau Cruise Port to ensure it is “fair and just” for all parties.

JoBeth Coleby Davis, minister of transport and energy, said “very established” taxi drivers have lodged complaints about the working arrangements at Prince George’s Wharf.

She added: “The Prince George Dock had a Prince George committee that managed and policed itself for many, many, many years. And the Nassau Cruise Port project is very new, and it’s taken some time for us to make the right adjustments and the right collaboration to mesh how these systems begin to work together, understanding that there was a group that managed and worked and collaborated together when it was the Prince George Dock, and now finding a way to blend the operations because now is the Nassau Cruise Port.

“That is going to be a priority of mine now because it’s become such a grave issue for many of you. Many of you have raised it with me and I have had a number of meetings to find ways to bring the right balance out there.

“I realise, because of the comments already by very established taxi drivers, that it is clear that we have yet to find the right balance and the right mesh for the system to work in a way that everyone feels that it’s fair and just.”

Taxi drivers raised concerns about conditions at the Nassau Cruise Port, including the lack of restroom facilities for taxi drivers stationed there, during a Town Hall meeting with the minister last week that was designed to address the industry’s new code of conduct.

One driver argued that the Nassau Cruise Port cost $300m to renovate but its operators chose not to include facilities for taxi drivers. He said: “$300m for the port and, in the parking lot, we got nowhere to pee.”

Another taxi driver raised concerns that Road Traffic Department officers are not allowed past a certain point at the cruise port to monitor drivers. He said the responsibility to discipline drivers at the Nassau Cruise Port should not lie with union representatives and called for greater oversight by officials.

He said: “That dock is a mess out there….the power that belongs to the Road Traffic Department seems to fall in the hands of those that runs the dock. The committee put it that way. This committee is literally taking the power off the Road Traffic and actually giving drivers five days off of work. Whoever it is doesn’t have that authority; that is for Road Traffic.

“Out there on that dock, Road Traffic has no say. They are not allowed to go beyond a certain point at the dock. [They] keep saying this is a private entity and, because it’s a private entity, nothing can be done with it and they can do as they choose.

“The Government has 49 percent in that, and the Road Traffic Authority should have some say when they should be able to go in the back there and monitor what’s going on. We don’t need another taxi driver disciplining taxi drivers. That solely belongs to the Road Traffic Authority.” The 49 percent Bahamian ownership in Nassau Cruise Port is held by private investors, not the Government, via the Bahamas Investment Fund.

Mrs Coleby-Davis, in reply, maintained that she will look into their issues and ensure all taxi drivers have a “fair” opportunity to work.

She added: “I don’t want anyone to leave from here tonight to think that it is just another conversation that has happened and it’s now behind me. It’s going to be one of the top priorities of how we get a system that works, that eliminates the level of concern that has been raised tonight.

“Because I really want to make sure that everyone feels like they have a fair opportunity to be able to work. You are self-employed, and so only if you work you’re able to provide for your family. So it’s important for us to find a balance and to make you feel comfortable.”