The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC Services Drivers Union president Richard Johnson yesterday renewed calls for a forensic audit of the Road Traffic Department to “determine exactly who are the holders of the more than 2,500 taxicab licenses” in the county.

Mr Johnson said the government owes it to the “primary producers” of the Bahamian economy to make clear who the licenses are registered to, insisting that the move is “critical” to the industry’s quest towards modernisation.

“There needs to be some clarification on who is in the industry,” he said. “I have yet to get a response from the Department of Road Traffic on our request for a forensic audit to determine who is in the industry.”

According to Mr Johnson, the PSDU was promised in November a meeting with Prime Minister Perry Christie. However, he said, that meeting has yet to be scheduled.

“We have been adamant in calling for a forensic report because we don’t know who is in this business,” he added. “We need a position from the government on this matter, the PSDU have been at this for more than 20 years.

“This industry should be under the control of the taxicab and public service drivers.”

In February ,members of the PSDU suggested that “political interference” was to blame for delays surrounding the modernisation of the taxi industry.

At the time, he was responding to a leaked Baha Mar proposal designed to “transform” the industry.

Mr Johnson felt as that government was attempting to negotiate a deal on his taxi driver’s behalf without his union’s input.

Sources within the industry confirmed that representatives from Baha Mar, the Road Traffic Department and the Bahamas Taxicab Union (BTU) were working to rectify and incorporate an initiative that would have adjusted the general limits of the industry.