Vice President of The Bahamas Taxi Cab Union, Cheryl Ferguson, said that the unlicensed transportation providers, who have no permits or any type of insurance, seem to be in “control of the airport.”
“Nobody seems to be doing anything, and they seem to have control of the airport,” she said.
“As the (BTCU) Vice President,” she continued, “I am asking the Minister (Glenys Hanna-Martin) to try and intervene and get the airport cleaned up. I am tired of having meeting after meeting and nothing is being done, and the drivers (local) are pressuring me.”
Mrs. Ferguson also alleged that because Haitian hackers offer lower fares, and also speak Creole, they attract other Haitians as well as Bahamians and tourists.
“They used to carry only Haitians, but now they are carrying Haitians, Bahamians and tourists,” she stated, describing their main area of operations as, “down at the domestic and international flight section of the airport.”
Initially, Mrs. Ferguson said, there were about five hackers that positioned their “break down” vehicles along the airport sidewalk to pick up passengers, but the number has since increased to about 25.
“If we don’t put a stop to it now, they will take over,” she said.
“They also say that Bahamians don’t want to carry the Haitian passengers, but this is a lie,” the Taxi Union VP went on. “We want to carry them, but they don’t want to pay us the full fare.”
On a visit to NIA, a Guardian reporter was met by
disgruntled taxi drivers, who also expressed their concerns over competition from hackers, noting that they had an established a presence at the airport for many years, but in recent times the situation had deteriorated.
Eric Gibson, a cab driver for 20 years, said Haitian hackers without permits should not be allowed at NIA. Although airport authority officials “occasionally” arrested some hackers, they were subsequently exonerated.
“It is useless to arrest a man if they are going to let him go a couple of seconds later,” Mr. Gibson said. “They are foreigners here and should not be allowed to come here and do what they want to do and get away with it like a bully.”
Describing the Haitian hackers’ modus operandi, he said they would congregate on the inside of the airport and lure many Haitian and Bahamian passengers away with lower fares and their bilingual ability.
“They walk them across the lot to their vehicles and this is nothing that is done in secret. It is done publicly,” he declared.
“The Airport Authority knows about it and everybody else who has anything to do with transportation knows about it and something needs to be done and done hurriedly before drivers take matters into their own hands,” he made known.
According to another cab driver, Lee Ferguson, most of the Haitian hackers have full-time jobs at night, but opt to “hack” at NIA during the day.
“They don’t pay any insurance like us, they don’t pay for inspection and licence like us,” Mr. Ferguson charged, adding that some Haitian hackers have suggested that local cab drivers learn to speak Creole in order to better relate to Haitian passengers.
Road Traffic Department airport dispatcher Edward Francis, told The Guardian that he takes firm action on Haitian hackers whenever he observes them, but they park their vehicles “all over” the airport in order to escape notice.
“When they come, they would normally sit inside and wait for a flight to come in from Haiti, the U.S. or Abaco, but I can only tell them to remove themselves when they are outside to prevent them from getting the job, but I cannot remove them from the inside area,” Mr. Francis said.
Acting General Manager of the Airport Authority, Idris Reid, said that there was a “daily look out” for unauthorized “For hire” vehicles, but it was very difficult to identify who was a hacker and who was not.
He said that unless someone was prepared to give evidence that someone charged them a fare, they could not take action against individuals accused of being “hackers”. He said that if payment of a fare could be documented, the police would then be called in.
“We also know that if they come to the airport every day and hung around the entrance to customs, they are not there to meet a cousin every day and this is what we look at,” he said, reiterating that very few people are willing to come forward and give the Airport Authority details.
“I have repeatedly asked taxi-drivers to give us details. They have given us some, but it is a problem that we are fighting daily,” Mr. Reid said.
“We try our best at maintaining our watch,” he professed. “We watch cars and look at who is who and at cars those cars that are in the lot daily.”
Mr. Reid said that when suspected illegal hackers are spotted by the Airport Authority, the matter is reported to the police.
Up to press time, a call placed to Minister of Transport Glenys Hanna-Martin for her comments on the matter was not returned.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
