After years of waiting, 19 maxi taxi drivers/owners received their passes for the Priority Bus Route (PBR) on Thursday.
“It was a struggle financially because being unable to only operate on the Bus Route and only operate on the Main Road was very difficult financially but we pulled through,” maxi taxi owner Kendrickson Joseph said.
He said he waited five years and eight months for the pass and told Guardian Media he visited the ministry every six months to see where his application had reached.
Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan said soon, applicants will be able to track their process online.
“We are using technology at the ministry in all areas…so that you, as the drivers, the owners, will be able to stay on our device, your phone, at home on your computer, wherever and see exactly how the names are flowing,” he said.
Sinanan said they have since cleaned up the system but the PBR was designed for only 1,150 buses, so applicants will have to wait.
“Going forward, we may get 10 passes per year. The last check I saw on the listing was in excess of 150 people because we would have cleaned up the list give out these passes. I think it’s down to about 60,” he said.
“We cannot just put more maxis on the route because the route was designed for a certain amount of maxis.”
In 2020, ten drivers received PBR passes, valid for one year, and in 2021 six were granted.
“People got their passes and sometimes a bus will go down for a year and in a year and a half, two years, someone may sell their buses,” he said.
Sinanan said the policy of how long these vehicles could stay off the road was unclear, so the Maxi Taxi Advisory Committee, which was appointed in 2017, is looking at ways to amend this and other issues.
These include timelines for how long owners of downed maxi taxis can keep their passes and those who sold their vehicles with hopes of purchasing another.
When this is done, Sinanan will take the draft policy to parliament.
Sinanan said they are also looking at how to deal with people using PBR passes that were not issued to them.
“It’s not a free for all,” he said.
Route Two Maxi Taxi Association president Linus Phillip reminded drivers that the passes belonged to the mnistry and they should follow the rules and regulations.
