Measures to be Taken to Protect Livelihood of Public Transport Operators

Head of the Police Area Three Division, Superintendent Ryland Salmon, has assured that the police will be working assiduously to ensure that the public transportation system, particularly in the towns of Christiana, Mandeville, and Spaldings, operate in an orderly and decent manner.
Speaking at a meeting of the Spaldings Citizens Association in Clarendon recently, the Superintendent emphasised the need for law and order to be maintained in public places, and the need for persons to co-operate.
“I’ll be meeting with the Transport Authority because we have identified Christiana, Spaldings, and Mandeville, as some areas where we need to put in some more effort, in order to maintain the decency of how people take taxis and how the passengers are treated,” he said.
He added that several complaints had been made to the Parish Council, especially as it relates to the “back-up” men who assist public transport operators, as they have been extorting large sums of money from these motorists and have also become a nuisance to the commuting public.
“We met with the Parish Council and … there have been many complaints to them, about some people that they call back-up men. I am saying to the Parish Council, either you take in some of them, run their fingerprint, employ them full-time, or part-time as you may, but they cannot operate in the system as loosely as they do now,” the Superintendent stressed.
He said these extortionists were preventing taxi and bus operators from operating freely, as they become aggressive and abusive if they believe they are not adequately compensated.
“If you don’t pay them you can’t load, and at the end of the day, I was told that some of these guys collect as much as $15,000,” he said.
The Superintendent insisted that while everyone had the right to earn a living, it could not be at the expense of those persons who were legally entitled to do so, and the necessary measures would be taken to address the situation.
“It’s not that we don’t want people to make a living, but it can’t be at the expense of the taxi operator. So we will be moving to protect the taxi operators and the mini-bus operators from the back-up men,” he stated.