NA minibus association, municipality at odds as council pushes for regularisation

Minibus operators plying the number 56 route – New Amsterdam to Rosignol – have expressed concern over the future of their operations from New Amsterdam.
This comes as the New Amsterdam (NA) Mayor and Town Council (M&TC) are re-evaluating their operations. The Town Council says it wants to bring order and regulation to transportation hubs in the town.

During the recently held monthly statutory meeting of the New Amsterdam Mayor and Town Council, discussions centred on the future uses of the Matthew Allen Road, a section of which serves as the park for the Route 56 Minibus Association, which has been that way for the past 15 years.
Addressing councillors, Town Clerk Sharon Bacchus reported that a meeting had been scheduled with the association to discuss the way forward, but there was no attendance from its members of the minibus association, despite prior notification.
Mayor Wainwright McIntosh pointed out that it is the council’s responsibility to regulate and manage car and bus parks within the township. He noted that without proper oversight, such areas could easily become hubs for health hazards and poor solid waste management.
“Given the fact that the 56 Minibus Association was invited to a meeting which they failed to show up, it is the municipality that is responsible for regularising car parks and bus parks within the town of New Amsterdam,” the Mayor told the council.
The Town Clerk suggested that the area should either be formally recognised as a bus park or that a contractual agreement be established to regularise its use.
There were also suggestions to engage the traffic department of the Guyana Police Force to broker a meeting between the two sides.
“I will consolidate those suggestions into a general decision on the way forward. Heads of department, staff, I crave your indulgence as well. How do we move forward? Because it seems as though the municipality is being taken for granted, and this doesn’t happen in any other part of the world,” Mayor McIntosh pointed out.

Differing accounts
Meanwhile, in an invited comment, President of the Route 56 Minibus Association, Dennis Chesney, gave a different account of the situation. He claimed that the issue stemmed from a complaint lodged by one of the association’s members with the Town Clerk.
According to Chesney, when he went to the council to address the matter, he was told by the Town Clerk that he would be called in for a meeting, but to date he has not received a call.
Chesney explained that the location currently used as their park is private property, and the association has received permission to operate there since its establishment in 2009.
“This association working since the bridge opened, and we haven’t gotten a problem with anybody, just one person. We were up there, but after we realised that [the] place is occupied – and so we came here. But we had to ask permission. I went to the city council, and they said they are not concerned because the place is not theirs. We had to call Ananish [the owner of the land being utilised for the park], and they gave us permission to use the place. But the guy said, ‘Keep the place clean’. And that is what we are doing. We are doing that all the time.”
Considered to be the most organised minibus association in the country, the number 56 minibus association has 49 buses operating, with only 35 permitted to work each day.
Each bus operator has two days off weekly, ensuring that an orderly system of operation is maintained.
Unlike other parks where there are touts, the 56 Bus Association has dispatchers who are mandated to be in uniform.