Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan has responded to the action by Public Transportation Service Commission (PTSC) bus drivers that affected national service due to industrial action for wage negotiations.
Speaking at the launch of free WiFi on PTSC buses and terminals and the commissioning of 25 new buses on Wednesday, Sinanan said the industrial action was also targeted to stop the launch of the event.
He said, “I suspect that there was a plan to shutdown this programme today, I said that this would never happen. You see, everybody have a right to protest, it is part of the whole bargaining negotiations but we have laws and guidelines by which you can protest.
He added: “One thing I can tell you, no union will shutdown this country, you could slow it down, you can make it difficult to govern but you cannot shut down the country. This country is bigger than all of us here and one thing this minister and this Government will not support is hooliganism behaviour and thuggery and those are bold words. But this morning we had a significant amount of the drivers who were willing to work. Those buses did not come out here by guess, they were driven by PTSC drivers. Unfortunately, some of them were threatened, unfortunately some members of staff decided to block the compound so that buses can’t come out. Well, you could slow it down. We were supposed to bring out 25 buses today but brought just 10, one thing for sure the buses came out. You can’t stop this country, you could only slow it down.”
Sinanan said he respects the right of everyone to protest and the right for a better wage and “I understand the situation that the Government is in, we would do what we have to, but please whatever action we take, let it be within the parameters of the law and guided by the agreement we have.
“There would have had delays in negotiations for salaries and that is part of the course unfortunately at PTSC. That’s one of the areas we do have challenges with negotiations and that is being handled,” the minister said.
The launch started from the Croisee in San Juan and then along the Priority Bus Route into Port- of- Spain and then to the Brian Lara Promenade.
The buses were escorted in the spirit of Carnival with classical Carnival characters and a music truck.
Sinanan said Cabinet has approved a park- and- ride system for public servants and then branch out to the public.
“We have the facilities like the Brian Lara and Larry Gomes Stadiums and we are almost ready with that plan where public servants who coming into Port-of-Spain because most of the public servants operate in one the areas in Port-of-Spain. We are going to have buses from the two stadiums, you park there free of charge and we are going to shuttle you into Port-of-Spain at a certain point and take you back up in the afternoon at a minimal cost. We estimate that pilot project will reduce the amount of traffic coming into Port-of-Spain by public servants,” he said.
The Ministry of Works and Transport intends to widen lanes along the highway to reduce traffic.
Sinanan said Cabinet has approved a new chequered band maxi taxi service for rural areas and localise areas to compliment maxi taxi and PTSC service.
PTSC is expected in the next 18 months to receive 300 new buses. He also noted that for 2020 there have been 14 per cent reduction in road fatalities.