00:01Pressure washers, disinfectants and cutlasses were the tools of choice at CityGate on Saturday morning
00:08as maxi-taxi operators carried out a cleanup exercise at the transportation hub.
00:13But beneath the effort to spruce up the facility lies growing frustration within the industry
00:19and a warning that many operators could soon stay off the roads.
00:23The Association of Maxi-Taxi Trinidad and Tobago is planning a three-day rest and reflect
00:29protests from June 1st to June 3rd, a move that could significantly disrupt public transportation services across the country.
00:37We had a planned cleanup effort, which is something we try to do, if not yearly, at least a little
00:43more frequent.
00:43We come and we do some sanitization, some power washing, pulling up all the old grass and stuff around the
00:50area.
00:50The Association says one of its main concerns is the long-standing issue of route pass transfers,
00:56which it claims has remained unresolved through successive administrations.
01:01Two main things is the transferring of the bus route passes.
01:05The transferring covers about three to four areas, where you have the next second transfer, you have health, you have
01:11the amnesty.
01:12There's another avenue we wish to explore under the transfer and that's still in discussion.
01:17But this has been going on since the last administration, into this administration.
01:20Operators are calling for improvements to transportation infrastructure, including the establishment of a proper transit hub in Arima
01:29and upgrades to the facility in Sandy Grandi, which they describe as being in a state of disrepair.
01:35It will waver between management at CityGate and the hubs that we need.
01:40The hub that we need in Arima, we don't have a facility there, and then there's a hub in Sandy
01:44Grandi, which is dilapidated.
01:46Association officials insist the planned action is not politically motivated,
01:51arguing that years of discussion and consultations have failed to produce meaningful results.
01:57It's not something political, as people may be echoing. It's nothing like that.
02:03We exhaust all resources before it reaches to this.
02:06Because, as I said, this probably was, what, five, six years ago when this happened.
02:10And then the last one, which was under Jack Warner, was back 2014, 2015.
02:13So it's not something regular we do. We try to mitigate. We try to sit down.
02:17We try to have the meetings and our proposals, do our rebutts, everything.
02:21But then, when all else fails, it reaches to this.
02:24They say the protest is being driven by mounting frustration among members
02:27who believe their concerns have been ignored for too long.
02:31While participation is voluntary, the association expects significant support from operators
02:37and is urging members to keep their vehicles parked throughout the three-day period.
02:42They were even asking if they had jobs to do, if they had school, this to do, whatever.
02:46We told them as a total stay at home, do not come out with the maxis, leave the maxi taxi
02:49at home.
02:50The other routes as well, I know they are doing their best, but it's not,
02:53I don't think it's nothing that we really have to work hard on because, as I said,
02:56it's coming from the membership themselves.
02:58So it's the membership themselves that are frustrated,
03:00so they themselves know what is going to come, they know why we want to do it.
03:04For commuters like Brent and Nicholas,
03:06a three-day disruption can mean additional expense and inconvenience.
03:10If the issue is not being resolved, well, you know, by all means,
03:14they do what they need to do in order to get the necessary attention.
03:19The only other alternative is those hired services like ride share and those sort of stuff.
03:25For now, maxi taxis continue to operate as normal,
03:28but if the planned action proceeds as scheduled on Monday,
03:33thousands of commuters may be forced to find alternative ways to get to work,
03:37school and other destinations.
03:40Charlotte Histo, TV6 News.
Comments