Tourists were forced off a Bahamas Experience bus, because taxi drivers claimed that it was an unauthorised tour. All tours, according to Road Traffic Controller Brencil Rolle, have to be sanctioned in advance. No such requests were received, Mr. Rolle said, promising to look into the matter.
Attempts to contact Bahamas Experience chief operating officer Michael Symonette proved fruitless.
Ironically, government’s first tourism forum which opened Monday, vowed to pinpoint ways to strengthen The Bahamas’ principle source of income and address tourist harassment and public disputes.
When The Guardian arrived at Prince George Wharf, the affected tourists had already walked away to Rawson Square, followed by several taxi drivers. Standing near the Tourism Information Booth, road traffic and police officers were feverishly trying to calm down other disgruntled taxi drivers. Meanwhile, another tour group that was just five feet away, took front row seats to the unfolding chaos.
According to onlookers, as the Bahamas Experience bus pulled in and tourists entered the vehicle, a taxi driver approached the tour operator and demanded to see an authorisation letter, which the tour operator could not produce, stating that it was at the office.
This prompted other taxi drivers to “engulf” the bus, forcing the frightened passengers to exit and find other means to complete the tour.
“As we were sitting and waiting for our tour buses to come in, the people kept asking questions, badgering me. They were very, very rude. They kept asking questions about all types of stuff: ‘How we got there?’ ‘What bus we were on?'” said Matthew Oakes, one of the 30 Good Hope Church group members. “I have never seen any thing as such in my life. It was very, very rude.”
Mr. Oakes insisted that the tour was booked three weeks ago to view Bahamian landmarks. Now, he said, the incident ruined their vacation.
“We are tourists, and if this is where 100 per cent or 98 per cent of your business comes from, you would think you’d protect it better than that… so as far as I’m concern, from your country this is embarrassing,” he said, adding, “From what I can see, your law enforcement don’t have any control to move these people out of the way.”
While he understood the “tourists’ cry,” taxi driver Bursel Anderson said they should also understand “our cry” and that the demonstration was to protect “our bread and butter.”
“As the small man, he think we should just sit down and let anything or everybody come in and take our jobs from us,” Mr. Anderson said.
He did offer this advice: “What he should have done, before coming to The Bahamas, was call the company to make certain that all preparations were made. We are not trying to embarrass him or The Bahamas. Our job is to take care of tourism as ambassadors and, at the same time there are laws in The Bahamas. When we go to America, we have to abide by laws and in The Bahamas we want the same thing to happen.”
Mr. Anderson demanded of the relevant authorities that they diffuse the dispute immediately, stating, “We’ve been having problem for the last two years with this Bahamas Experience. All of a sudden they feel like the big bully in the transportation business. We are appealing to the government now to step in, because it is reaching to a boiling point…. It is an emergency! It is urgency that they settle the matter now!”
This is not the first public row between taxi drivers and tour operators. In June 2003, a ministerial slip-up caused the Ministry of Tourism to compensate taxi drivers after 400 cruise ship passengers were transported on a tour bus. At the time, taxi drivers staged a brief protest, blocking the buses’ path.
On her way to a cabinet meeting, Minister of Transport and Aviation Glenys Hanna-Martin hurried to the scene. She promised the hot-tempered drivers that she “would get to the bottom of it.”
“Tempers were flaring when I got here,” she said. “If taxi drivers feel as if someone is breaching the rules to their disadvantage, then they will respond and it could be very unpleasant.”
As all players involved are “accountable” to the tourism industry, Mrs. Hanna-Martin noted the outcome, with “tourist caught in the middle,” could have been avoided.
While citing that Bahamas Experience was “negligent” not to inform authorities in advance of the tour, the Department of Road Traffic has requested a written account from both parties. Once they are received, the board will issue the disciplinary action.
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
