Sav mayor vows to crack down on rogue taxi operators
MAYOR OF Savanna-la-Mar Bertel Moore has vowed to crack down on errant taxi operators in Westmoreland at the start of the new school year.
Moore says the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC) will be adopting a no-nonsense approach to traffic breaches come September.
“As you know, traffic congestion in Savanna-la-Mar is very bad, especially along Great Georges Street,” said Moore, during a meeting with tax -operators in the parish last Friday.
“We are now looking at the best locations along Great George Street, where motorists, especially taxi men, can easily pull off without impeding traffic.
“I am not talking about parking, I am just talking about picking up passengers, because what I notice about a number of these taxi operators is that they will be driving along the roadway and just stop to pick up passengers.
“We cannot tolerate that. We must be more disciplined in our doing, and come the start of this school term, we will not be tolerating any form of rogue approach by taxi operators,” added Moore.
He was supported by Patrick Forrester, president of the Petersfield Taxi Association, who declared that the police must be on board with whatever decisions are made.
“We have met with the stakeholders and there are certain things that we have agreed to, which are not yet in the making, especially in regard to the police,” said Forrester.
“I think it is very important that we as taxi operators meet with the police before the start of the new school term,” added Forrester.
He argued that there needs to be a level playing field in regard to traffic offenders, as while the police come down hard on taxi operator, vendors and delivery trucks are escaping sanctions.