Bahamas Omnibus Association president, Nicholas Jacques, told the Guardian on Sunday that the planned strike had been “called-off”, after the association and the Government were able to reach an amicable agreement late Friday evening.
“The Minister of Transport and Aviation, Glenys Hanna-Martin, gave us some kind of hope during a telephone conversation on Friday. She promised to do her best to help us out and we in turn gave the Government a two-week extension to properly review our proposal,” Mr. Jacques said via a telephone interview.
It is believed, however, that at the end of that period if nothing had been agreed, the strike will take place.
The crisis in the nation’s public transportation system came to a head earlier this month when Mr. Jacques warned that if Government did not revoke a $300 increase in franchise fees and a $100 increase in trade names by October 31, all buses would have been pulled off the streets, bringing the public transportation system in New Providence to a complete standstill, thereby inconveniencing thousands of commuters.
At an extraordinary meeting, BOA members decided to give the Government an ultimatum to either publicly withdraw the increases and send the association a copy in writing by the end of the month, and advised the government that their buses could develop mechanical problems indefinitely.
In fact, the press was told that many of the stealth supporters of the association who were said to be open PLP supporters were pushing for the buses to be parked without giving the government an ultimatum or warning because they, reportedly, never consulted the association on the increase.
The hike in fees came into effect in July, but the association never made its grievances known until earlier this month at a press conference.
At that time, Mr. Jacques accused the Government of “unfair and blatant victimisation,” noting that tour buses and charter companies were left out when the Government saw fit to increase the fees for bus operators.
Previously, bus operators paid a $300 flat fee for their first three buses, but are now being required to pay $300 for each bus.
The increases, foreshadowed by Minister of Transport and Aviation Glenys Hanna-Martin during her contribution to the Budget debate in June, came into effect in July. She said the decision was based on the recommendations made that the increase in franchise fees be applied to individual buses across the board.
However, Mr. Jacques said on Sunday that the association knew it had to pay taxes, but what the Government was asking was just too high.
“We are proposing that we pay $300 on the first three franchises and $50 on each additional thereafter,” Mr. Jacques said.
He reported that since the Minister of State for Finance was back on the island, Minister Hanna-Martin had decided to again take the proposal back to Cabinet.
“She said the Minister of Finance had to review the whole thing. She is going to push for our proposal,” Mr. Jacques explained. “Since she has given us some hope, and most of our members agreed to it, so we called off the strike. We really did not want to inconvenience the public you know, but as a union that is our only mechanism we have for negotiation. That is really our last resort. But sometimes government only understands pressure so that is the reason why we announced that.”
Up to press time, the Guardian attempted to contact the Minister Hanna-Martin but all efforts proved futile.
By Keva Lightbourne, The Nassau Guardian
