Traffic Chief suggests possible banning of minibuses

Last Updated on Sunday, 15 December 2019, 20:13 by Writer

The Guyana Police Force’s Traffic Chief, Linden Isles has floated the idea of possibly banning the importation of reconditioned minibuses or insisting that all such vehicles must be brand new as one way of dealing with the congestion of city bus parks.

“Look, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the government look at how many vehicles that are being registered; hold on importation, if you have to import, import new buses…we’ll out pressure on the market to say ‘well, look only new buses can come into the system so you cannot bring in buses which were manufactured five years ago’. You have to bring in new buses which will put pressure on the market or stop the importation,” he said.

Mr. Isles says the Police Force has not determined how many buses are needed on each route to adequately serve commuters during peak periods. He says there is nothing that the police force can do to limit the number of buses on each route because owners often register their buses to ply routes in which they live. “It’s an open market, We have an open market and persons can join the market,” he said.

The Traffic Chief has already said he has recommended that all the bus parks at the Stabroek Market area be removed to a bus terminal that should be located on the Railway Embankment just east of Camp and Lamaha Streets.

The President of the Guyana Minibus Union, Eon Andrews has since called for feasibility study of setting up the proposed terminal. A short-term measure, according to Andrews, could be the introduction of a rotation system in which some buses would work while others would be off-duty.

Isles did not immediately have any suggestions for legislative and regulatory for traffic management in Guyana.