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By Kisean Joseph
[email protected]
The government says it is working on new legislation to address complaints from airport taxi drivers about unauthorized vehicles picking up passengers at V.C. Bird International Airport, according to Ambassador Lionel Hurst, Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister.
The United Taxi Association, which operates from the airport, recently brought the concerns to Cabinet regarding vehicles with “A” and “C” plates that they say are undercutting their business and potentially compromising passenger safety.
“This has been a problem that is ongoing; it’s a challenge,” Hurst acknowledged during Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing. “Many of the hotels have private vehicles which they send for their customers, especially those who are paying premium prices.”
The taxi drivers argue they face unfair competition because they pay special fees for the privilege of operating at the airport, while unauthorized vehicles freely pick up passengers without similar costs.
“The taxi drivers who appeared before the Cabinet yesterday complained that they must pay a special fee just for operating at the airport, separate and apart from registration and the like,” Hurst explained. “And so, these others that are able to come in and to snatch their fares, their customers, they come to the conclusion that there is some unfair competition there.”
The United Taxi Association Informed Cabinet that many solo travelers, particularly women, rely on the security provided by registered taxi drivers. They argued that ensuring passenger safety during transportation to and from the airport is “critical to the success of tourism.”
According to the Cabinet notes, the government has promised to work with airport authorities to implement stricter controls on which vehicles can pick up passengers.
Hurst indicated that one solution being considered involves creating a new category of license plates for luxury hotel vehicles.
“They would like to have luxury plates placed on some of these lengthy vehicles which they use for purposes of going out to the airport to pick up high-paying customers,” he said, adding that the necessary legislation is not yet in place.
“There is some methodology that is about to be worked out that will allow at least some hotels in the first instance to operate these special vehicles,” Hurst said. “But that does not excuse those who, whenever it gets very busy at the airport, sometimes cut into the trade of the taxi drivers that do have some exclusive control for passengers departing the airport and needing a taxi cab.”
Hurst assured that the government is taking the matter seriously. “I believe that we will see some legislation being introduced that will help to regulate the flow of that kind of traffic at the airport,” he stated.
The United Taxi Association also discussed with Cabinet the new $100 and 40 percent hike in vehicle licensing fees being imposed on different categories of vehicles to fund road repairs. Initially, there had been misunderstandings about whether taxi drivers would be exempt from this fee, but Cabinet confirmed they would need to pay the equivalent of $2 per week like other vehicle owners.
Hurst noted that collection of this fee has just begun for vehicles registered in April, with funds eventually going toward a $100 million loan for road repairs, particularly focusing on community roads.
“Within a matter of months, I would say, we will see it operational and we’ll begin to see the roads in the communities being repaired,” Hurst said, adding that a prioritized schedule of road works would be published and shared with the public “in due course.”
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