“They just keep kicking the can down the road and use COVID as an excuse”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Taxi drivers staged another demonstration yesterday as they called on the government to bring resolution to long-standing issues plaguing the sector.
Bahamas Taxicab Union President Wesley Ferguson told reporters during a demonstration outside of Parliament: “The issues are still the same. For more than two years, we have been agitating the government.
“After the moratorium was lifted in November 2019, the government made a promise that they were going to fix the issues in the taxi industry.
“We trusted them. We believed them. Two years later, we are still in the trenches trying to get one promise fulfilled from this government.”
Ferguson added: “The taxi plates are still the same color as the SDs. We haven’t gotten any resolution to that. That has been seven years.
“The taxi industry is still owned by 20 percent of taxi drivers and 80 percent of them are still leasing plates.”
Ferguson said that despite repeated demonstrations, the government has not met with the union to seriously address their concerns.
“They are playing this game that if they ignore us, we would go away,” he said.
“We are not going to be ignored. We are not going away. We will be here every week until election, until we vote them out if they do not fulfill their promises.”
Ferguson added: “We are not asking for any industrial agreement or raise. The government already has all of the information they need to pull the trigger on the issuance of taxi plates.
“This is something the government was already prepared for before the pandemic, but they just keep kicking the can down the road and use COVID as an excuse.”
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