AFTER nearly five hours of talks with Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Eli Zakour following the first day of a planned three-day strike action yesterday, maxi-taxi operators emerged dissatisfied.
But last night, vice president of the Route Two Maxi Taxi Association Parsana Rampersad confirmed to the Express that their membership had agreed to a second day of “rest and reflection” today. It was unclear if the other associations would follow suit.
The meeting, which began around 2 p.m., ended without an immediate resolution.
It involved association leaders, Zakour, the ministry’s permanent secretary, legal advisers and transport officials, and was convened following the first day of a planned three-day withdrawal of service by operators.
President of the Association of Maxi Taxis Trinidad and Tobago Eon Hewitt said a final decision on the way forward would be made only after discussions with members last evening.
“The meeting was long. It had a lot of different topics, went through the whole scenario. We have to go back and make a decision on what we’re doing,” Hewitt said.
He continued: “I don’t think, honestly, as the president right now and my thought pattern of what went on, I honestly don’t feel that I could give an honest view. But we will go down the road and we will meet and we will come to a decision.”
Hewitt acknowledged the disruption caused by the strike and apologised to commuters.
“What I can also tell you is that I don’t want these children to go through another day like today. I mean, every time I open my mouth, it was an apology because we know things wasn’t right,” he said.
Among the issues discussed were the operators’ call for the speed limit for maxi-taxis to be increased from 65 kilometres per hour to 80 kilometres per hour, concerns over the transferability of Public Service Vehicle passes, inter-city pass arrangements, infrastructure improvements and transportation issues affecting Tobago.
Hewitt said the minister indicated that the speed limit proposal had already been reviewed and referred to the chief traffic engineer for further consideration.
However, association representatives expressed frustration that several concerns were described as falling outside the minister’s remit, particularly matters relating to infrastructure. They argued that ministries should work collectively through Cabinet to address long-standing concerns affecting the sector.
President of the Route 2 Maxi Taxi Association Brenton Knights said representatives were particularly disappointed that much of the meeting focused on updating them about work being undertaken by the ministry rather than providing solutions to the issues that led to the protest action.
“The theme of the meeting was really to bring us so-called up-to-date about information in the ministry or the work that the ministry has done. It is not consistent to what we know of the work that is required to bring us to where we at,” Knights said.
He continued: “And based on our understanding of what is required for we not to be in the position that we are today, there are vast contrasts, difference in terms of what we’re expecting or what we should be doing at this point in time to what they presented.
“There is a vast difference in the information and based on what we know that is expected to be done so that we would never have been in this position.”
The meeting also drew criticism over what Knights described as “political undertones”.
Despite the disagreements, operators commended Zakour for remaining engaged throughout the discussions.
“We must commend him on that. He stayed right through. He came first. He sat down there,” Hewitt said.
Asked to describe his mood after the meeting, Hewitt replied with two words: “perplexed” and “hungry.”
He also maintained that the dispute was not with the administration as a whole.
“Our fight was never with the Government. It’s the gentleman,” Hewitt said, referring to the minister.
The association said a decision on whether operators would continue industrial action was expected after consultations with members.
Hewitt also defended the action despite the financial loss to operators, saying the sacrifice was justified.
“For a good cause, you can’t lose. There’s no price for a cause,” he said.
