Minibus conductors’ behaviour a serious issue – association President

…calls for training before licence issuance

In light of the challenges faced by passengers, caused by the sometimes disgraceful and shocking behaviours – displayed by not only conductors but drivers of minibuses – the President of the United Minibus Union, Eon Andrews, has made a call for conductors to be trained by the Road Safety Council before being issued their licences.

Union President, Eon Andrews, on Friday made his concern known over the very serious issue as he was addressing several woes encountered by commuters using this specific mode of transportation.
He said conductors should have training sessions in the area of hospitality to be better capable of handling certain situations before they are issued their licences.
“As it relates to the unruly drivers (and) in most cases these conductors, we are advocating and we are trying to get it through the Road Safety Council where before you can become a conductor you have to go and do some kind of three or four sessions, where you (conductors) will have a paper saying that this person has come and has passed the hospitality (requirements) and all of that before you can get one of those (licences),” Andrews pointed out.
Over the years and specifically over the past few weeks, persons have vented their frustration on social media after they were mistreated or mishandled by conductors of the public transport system.
In some of those cases, persons were even thrown out of the minibuses just for requesting the driver or conductor to lower their music. In other situations, persons were told not to enter the minibuses because of their size and were even threatened that if they did, then the bus would no longer be travelling the specific route.

Wrapping of buses
In the meantime, Andrews has also highlighted that he does not support the wrapping of minibuses.
The head of the UMU said he believes the minibuses should have just about two colours on them. He explained that this should be so, since in the case of an accident, a person would be able to say, “Well I was struck by a blue and red bus”. This, he said, is made difficult due to the several colours the operators have been protesting to have.
“What I know is that when you go to the GRA (Guyana Revenue Authority) you register your bus with a colour and that is what should be on your registration… when you get your documents from GRA the Police ought to see the colour and as long as you come with these plenty colours, then you don’t issue the registrations. But then again, I believe these bus drivers are trying to smart the Police by collecting the registrations and then they go and spray on”.
Andrews said he has observed over a period of time that the buses with the ‘fancy colours’ have the drivers and conductors with some of the worst behaviours and “I don’t know if it’s a case where the colour demonstrates the character of the people.”
“If there is a law against the colouring of these minibuses, then it should be enforced by the Police as well as the other relevant authorities. If it is under their remit then they will have to deal with it,” the Union leader shared.
Earlier last month, an auto dealer had indicated he was willing to take a legal challenge over the issue of the wrapping of minibuses, since he believes that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) was unlawfully forcing minibus operators to remove their ‘wrap designs’.
Traffic Chief Ramesh Ashram held tight to the view that the minibus owners were in breach of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act 51:02.
Back in March, a campaign was implemented to strip all minibuses that had wrap designs. The defaulting vehicles were taken to the Brickdam Police Station.
The affected drivers have related that the initiative has affected their livelihood, as they continue to lose money. Due to this, a protest was staged by the operators.