Bus, taxi fares should not be hiked on Christmas Eve – Minibus Association

United Minibus Union (UMU) President Eon Andrews is calling on minibus and taxi drivers not to hike their fares today – Christmas Eve.

Andrews related that fares should remain standard during the Christmas season, and no passenger should have to pay extra or exorbitant fares to get home.
“It is against the law. It is bullying people to pay… if the fare is one thing, that is it. Hire cars are also doing this nonsense, persons should make complaints to the Ministry of Business Consumer Affairs Department …. at any time of the day or night, the fare is standard and they choose the night to rob people,” Andrews said in an interview with Guyana Times.
Commuters are already complaining about the hike in fare by both minibuses and taxis.
When this publication visited the minibus parks around the city, persons expressed their concerns about the hiked fare.
A resident of Golden Grove on the ECD said: “The fare is $180, but the conductors are demanding $200. Twenty dollars is not bad, but today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday), the fares will go sky-high.”
Another commuter related that he lived in Strathspey, ECD, where his fare is $140, but on Christmas Eve, he was usually forced to pay $500.
Meanwhile, Abigale Samuels of Victoria, ECD, said: “It is crazy on Christmas Eve; we always have to pay a lot of money to go home. The funny thing is, not only we will have to pay $500 and a $1000 to go home, but we will have to sit four and five in a seat. If we only talk about the double up, we will have to sleep in town,” she explained.
At the Route 42 Minibus Park, a resident of Soesdyke said that persons living on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway were also facing the same challenge.
“They calling for $300 today (Monday), but tomorrow we have to pay $1000 which is ridiculous. If we don’t pay it, how will we get home? What I am scared of is that they got us sitting four in a seat to go home.”