Draft Code of Conduct for Minibus Operators up for discussion

Stemming from a recent meeting with the Business Ministry (MoB), the United Minibus Union (UMU) now has at its disposal a draft of the Code of Conduct for Minibus Operators.
This was last week related to this newspaper by President of the UMU, Eon Andrews, during a telephone interview. Andrews said he expects to again meet with the Business Minister by November 25, to make any changes to the draft which may be necessary, and to have it implemented.
According to him, the UMU and the MoB collaborated to produce the document, but “there are some adjustments we may need to make”.
He explained, “Well, the Ministry has agreed to what is there, but if there is any little adjustment we need to make, we can do that quickly; and then it will be put forward by the union, endorsed by the Ministry”.
The importance of having a standard code of conduct set for those operators — since the system is currently “out of control” — was reiterated by Andrews during a previous interview.
Andrews disclosed that some of the areas the Code of Conduct is intended to address are: operators’ mode of dress; general conduct, such as not overloading buses, not playing loud and lewd music, not driving under the influence of alcohol; and the way operators speak to passengers.
Andrews pointed out that, as promised, the UMU had meetings with representatives of the various bus routes, and according to him, they all endorsed the draft Code of Conduct.
Andrews had, last month, assured that after the draft was created, representatives of the various minibus routes would be summoned to meet with the Business Ministry and the UMU, and those representatives would inform their drivers of what is expected of them.
Andrews had said the Code of Conduct was extremely vital, especially with the potentially lucrative oil and gas sector expected to come on stream by 2020.
He explained that the sector would reel in tourists and other important persons who would, at some time, have need to use public transportation, whose operators are presently unprepared to be the ambassadors they ought to be.
The UMU had initially announced plans to establish a Code of Conduct for Bus Drivers back in August, when plans were revealed to increase minibus fares by $20 for 10 operating routes.
The announcement to set a standard code of conduct for public transportation operators was well received by passengers, as far too many commuters would have vented their anger on social media at the ruthless behaviour of drivers in the different routes.
Although some passengers have welcomed the initiative, others have been more concerned about the drivers living up to what is expected of them.
In relation to this concern, Andrews has assured that a hotline would be implemented to facilitate passengers making reports of breaches made by transportation providers in this regard.