The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

RICHARD Johnson, President of the Public Service Drivers Union, yesterday called on the government to “keep their promise” and allow the industry to be owned and controlled entirely by franchise holders.

In a press conference, Mr Johnson said this would move the industry from one that is government-controlled to an enterprise owned and run by taxi franchise holders.

However,  he said, after more than 18 years of agitating, “this government as well as successive governments have refused to make the industry independent”.

“We are calling on the government to give us this right because we believe that it is indeed a right that we have earned and we would like to have it addressed. We haven’t gotten the answer that we would like because of the importance of the taxi industry to our economy we feel the timing is right for this to happen,” he said.

“The last time we met with the government we were asked to present a proposal. All we are asking them to do is give us the concession and we are prepared to find the funding, in fact, funding is available.

“All we need is the government to do is simply give us this official sanction and endorsement on the taxi franchise. We are looking for the outright ownership, the evaluation of it and we are also looking for the concession of being responsible for the ground transportations from the dock to the airport to the hotel.

“Saying we are frustrated is an understatement, I am disappointed when you consider that this is an initiative that would really in my view be a game changer in the taxi business.”

Last July, Mr Johnson said the government agreed in principal to a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with the taxi drivers. He said the HOA would allow the union and other unions to be responsible for transportation services from Prince George Dock, the Lynden Pindling International Airport and the hotels.

He said the agreement would establish a minimum value of $100,000 for each taxi franchise.

The $100,000 according to Mr Johnson, is based on the number of years a franchise holder would have been in the ground transportation business.