Private hire taxis, Brazilian operators undercut local drivers

– Lethem Taxi Association President says

President of Lethem Taxi Association, Basdeo Ramlall, has cited a number of financial challenges taxi drivers in Lethem have been encountering, reportedly at

the hands of foreign operators.

When this publication visited that interior town last week, Ramlall informed that local taxi drivers were not getting passengers to travel with them, because Brazilian drivers were shuttling passengers to and from Lethem.

A transportation service provider for now three years, Ramlall described the situation as going against the extant norms and signed conditions which allow operators from either country to traverse the Takutu Bridge to shuttle passengers from their respective base of operation.

“When the bridge was opened, an agreement was signed between the two governments: Brazilian taxis must bring passengers up to the Immigration Complex, and the Guyana taxis must take passengers to the Brazilian Immigration,” Ramlall explained.

He indicated that the arrangement had worked well initially, but, over time, Brazilian operators not only took passengers to Lethem, but commenced working the Lethem to Bon Fim route in Brazil.

“We sometimes park here the whole day without a passenger, because the Brazilian taxis taking passengers straight into Lethem, and they coming back and picking up the passengers going back into Brazil…Nobody does (anything) about it,” he pointed out.

Guyana Times was also told about a recent engagement between the two countries, to which Ramlall claims Guyanese operators were not invited.

He said this suggested that taxi drivers “have no value” in this country, and he noted that the Lethem Taxi Association had made several attempts to engage the Lethem mayor, town clerk and other officials on the matter, but have, over the last several months, not received any definitive word on when the concerned parties would be able to meet.

“We went and had one meeting with the mayor, and we supposed to have another follow-up meeting, but the town clerk said she is going to call us back for the meeting; [but] it’s been going on to 8 months now and she not calling us, so nobody looks after us,” he lamented.

According to Ramlall, police at the borders are supposed to know all the bilateral agreements signed between the two countries, in order to prevent their violation.

“They are the persons who supposed to see that these agreements are upheld. The police are not checking, they are in a building; so who are we going to run to?” he questioned.

He also decried the utilisation of privately registered motor cars as taxis.

“Private cars run things in Lethem. We have a problem where six (6) Brazilians are owners of cars with Guyanese number plates and they are running taxis. If private cars could run taxi, it’s best we put our cars in private, too, and compete,” Ramlall opined.

Moreover, he decried the condition of the non-asphalted roads, which cause vehicle operators additional expense for maintenance. Earlier this year, Traffic Chief Deon Moore urged citizens not to travel as paying passengers in vehicles operating as private hire cars.