Taxi companies announce taxi fare hike

Taxi drivers raised their fares on Wednesday. Glenn Ramadhin, owner and CEO at Tourtonne’s Taxi and chairman of the Association of Taxi Drivers in Suriname, told Times of Suriname that postponing the taxi fare hike was no longer possible because of the recent fuel price hike. He pointed out that at Tourtonne’s Taxi the taxi fare remains SRD 8 up to a distance of 2 kilometers. After that SRD 0.30 is added to each kilometer. Before Wednesday a kilometer cost SRD 2 which means that each kilometer currently costs SRD 2.30. Ramadhin explained that the fuel prices rose with SRD 0.58 but that he wants to ‘help out’ the customers as much as possible which is why the company opted for a raise of 30 cents. He also explained that Tourtonne’s Taxi had not adjusted its fares after the previous fuel price hike. He pointed out that each taxi company will determine its own taxi fare hike. He deemed the fuel price hike regrettable especially given the fact that spare parts will also become more expensive. “The government could have sought a different solution,” said Ramadhin who added that some spare parts have a $ price tag which makes them unaffordable for the taxi drivers. According to Ramadhin, the taxi drivers at his company can’t purchase new cars because they can’t pay back the bank loans. He fears that in the end there will only be old cars. The taxi drivers must provide for their families which is why they can’t pay back bank loans. “The taxi sector was an option for people who were unemployed,” said Ramadhin who added that he fears that the current situation will discourage taxi drivers and boost the unemployment rate.