{"id":4821,"date":"2011-01-06T10:08:52","date_gmt":"2011-01-06T14:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=4821"},"modified":"2011-01-06T10:10:21","modified_gmt":"2011-01-06T14:10:21","slug":"another-lose-lose-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=4821","title":{"rendered":"Another lose, lose situation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newsday Editorial
\nJanuary 6 2011 – newsday.co.tt<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Maxi Taxi<\/a>The current dispute between the operators of maxi taxis and the Government, represented by Minister of Works and Transport Jack Warner, will have no winners. Even if the maxi taxi operators prevail, and prevent in some way, the proposed \u201cregularisation\u201d of PH taxis, the travelling public will end up losing a form of transport upon which many people depend. The operators will have lost their earnings for Wednesday, and for any other days which they decide to withdraw their services. PH drivers, many of whom are honest (outside of their \u201cPH breach\u201d) hard-working individuals, may lose the opportunity to become a legitimate part of the economy. And the travelling public is suffering.
\n
\nThe maxi taxi operators have withdrawn their services in protest of Government\u2019s announcement that the PH taxis will be \u201cregularised\u201d. However, the full details of this proposed \u201cregularisation\u201d have not yet been presented for examination and comment. The maxi operators are claiming that if the PH drivers are regularised, they (the maxis) will suffer. However, the PH taxis are already all in existence, and have been operating for years, and there has been no complaint from either the maxi or the legitimate \u201cH\u201d drivers. This fact is being lost in the noise being raised on the issue.<\/p>\n

The maxi operators are also demanding a meeting with Warner, to whom they claim they have sent a letter, and have received no response. Warner claims that he has seen no such letter or demand, and his door remains open should he receive the letter. Warner has, since taking up office, always met with stakeholders claiming an interest in his initiatives, so we do not wish to think he is now avoiding the maxi operators. Indeed, he had met with them in the past, on the matter of \u201copening up\u201d the Priority Bus Route.<\/p>\n

We would like to suggest that Mr Warner take the initiative, and invite the operators to come in to his office to discuss their concerns. However, this could only be effective if the Government has a plan for the regularisation of the PH taxis, which would include the safety of vehicles, the insurance they would need, and the routes upon which they would be permitted to operate.<\/p>\n

The Government, in its turn, could also use the opportunity presented in a meeting, to discuss the consumer complaints along the East-West Corridor, where maxi taxi operators have been accused of creating \u201cshort-drops\u201d for persons trying to travel into the city along the PBR. The operators have been accused by travellers of dropping off their passengers at \u201cstations\u201d along the way, and then re-loading to continue the journey into the city.<\/p>\n

We have no doubt that much of the \u201cheat\u201d being generated on this issue, like aligning the matter with the labour unions\u2019 current demonstrations against the Government, have a political agenda in the background. All of this is not good for our country at this time, as we try to readjust to the new economic realities we face.<\/p>\n

We can ill afford massive disruptions in our transport system at this time. Thousands of persons were badly inconvenienced yesterday, and we must not allow this situation to continue. We urge all concerned to find some common ground to restore our transportation system to normalcy. And we believe that the stage can be set for meaningful dialogue by Government outlining just what is their proposal and method for regularising the current PH taxis.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.newsday.co.tt\/editorial\/0,133622.html<\/p>\n

More News:<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘Could have been worse’<\/a>
\nGOOD SAMARITANS were the heroes in the face-off between maxi-taxi drivers and the Government yesterday. While Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner and Linus Phillip, the president of the Route Two Maxi-Taxi Association, both claimed success over yesterday’s planned protest, it was the faceless heroes who stood out in the minds of stranded commuters <\/p>\n

Transport chaos on Route Four<\/a><\/p>\n

Thousands of commuters stranded<\/a><\/p>\n

Maxi operators fighting losing battle–Warner<\/a><\/p>\n

Long wait for Sando commuters<\/a> <\/p>\n

Taxis, buses on a roll in South<\/a><\/p>\n

Working maxi drivers face threats, violence at City Gate<\/a><\/p>\n

Association: We\u2019ll not lie down and play dead<\/a> <\/p>\n

Jack victorious<\/a>
\n‘PTSC initiative a success’<\/p>\n

We love you, Jack<\/a>
\nAs commuters boarded buses along the East-West Corridor yesterday they showered praises on Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner.<\/p>\n

North-south travellers go for water taxis and buses<\/a><\/p>\n

Military buses lend a helping hand<\/a><\/p>\n

Warner thanks PH drivers<\/a><\/p>\n

PH drivers defend ‘pulling bull’<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newsday Editorial January 6 2011 – newsday.co.tt The current dispute between the operators of maxi taxis and the Government, represented by Minister of Works and Transport Jack Warner, will have no winners. Even if the maxi taxi operators prevail, and prevent in some way, the proposed \u201cregularisation\u201d of PH taxis, the travelling public will end … Continue reading Another lose, lose situation<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11,1,186,178],"tags":[147,600,599],"class_list":["post-4821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-culture","category-general-tt","category-law","category-media","tag-jack-warner","tag-maxi-taxi-operators","tag-ph-taxis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4821"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4823,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4821\/revisions\/4823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}