Sascha Wil­son

Com­muters trav­el­ling be­tween Point Fortin and?San Fer­nan­do will face a $1 in­crease in maxi-taxi fares from Mon­day. Sec­re­tary of the Route 5 Maxi Taxi As­so­ci­a­tion Brent Mon­roe said this had be­come nec­es­sary be­cause of the poor con­di­tion of the road and the in­crease in the cost of liv­ing.

"Our last fare in­crease took place in No­vem­ber 2006.?Since then, the price of parts and ser­vic­ing has dou­bled, not to men­tion the con­stant in­crease in cost of liv­ing," Mon­roe said. He said the fare from San Fer­nan­do to Dow Vil­lage would re­main at $5. How­ev­er, the in­crease in ar­eas be­tween San Fer­nan­do and Point Fortin would mean that com­muters will now have to pay be­tween $5 and $8.

Stress­ing the di­lap­i­dat­ed con­di­tion of the roads, Mon­roe said he was hope­ful that in the new year, the Gov­ern­ment would ini­ti­ate a road re­pair and main­tainance pro­gramme in the dis­trict. "We op­er­ate in the sec­tor of the coun­try which has the poor­est road con­di­tions...We con­tin­ue to try our best to pro­vide trans­port and ser­vice in the area," he said.

Mon­roe apol­o­gised for any dis­tress the in­crease might cause com­muters, but em­pha­sised that it was a nec­es­sary mea­sure.