Bus owners to launch another ‘campaign’

Bus owners from various routes will launch another campaign today because they still have not received the lockdown compensation and because the bus fares still have not been raised. Faizel Bholai, spokesman of the action group, did not disclose which tactics the bus owners would use but he did point out that Public Works, Transport and Communications Minister Vijay

Chotkan, has not invited the Private Bus Owners Organization (PLO) to a meeting to discuss a hike of the bus fares. Bholai pointed out that the minister had indicated that the papers regarding the lockdown compensation have already been sent to the Finance Ministry and that the money must be transferred to the PLO’s bank account. He is hopeful that the bus fares will be raised before the arrival of a new government. Bholai pointed out that not all of the nation’s bus owners rally in the streets to let their voices be heard when they are summoned. This is why he believes that the bus owners carry the blame for some of the problems. “They do not support the campaigns.” Bholai made it clear that the buses will remain in the garages until the bus fares have been raised. The bus owners have calculated that a bus ride through the city should cost SRD 3.85 instead of SRD 1.85. “In the past the bus owners made a huge mistake when they agreed that the bus fares would be adjusted in consultation with the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications because the retailers adjust their prices almost every day.”