One issue which has overshadowed this election is the specter of mounting corruption in government. David Thompson and his party have attempted to illustrate in their campaign the many instances e.g. ABC Highway contract and the unwillingness of government to follow the procurement policy, Hardwoods Factory Housing, etc. These are the high profile examples and have for obvious reasons gained national prominence. It is known that Barbados is a small place and little can happen in secrecy before it leaks into the public domain.
Over the years and under successive governments, we have all heard the whispers about how some people were able to acquire Public Service Vehicles (PSV) permits. We have also wondered why successive governments would have resisted implementing the long proposed Transport Authority or some other watchdog agency which would remove certain decisions from the ambit of the Minister of Transport and high ranking Civil Servants. As observers, we have seen the chaos which our public transportation system has descended. Barbadians have reached the point where only those at the low end of the social ladder access public transportation as a first option. The objective for all Barbadians is now to own a car as quickly as possible to avoid the public transportation system. We reject Prime Minister Arthur’s claim that the increase in the number of cars is solely as a result of the economic prosperity of Barbados. The lack of a discernible traffic management policy has now led to the situation where PSV’s operate disproportionately on several routes across Barbados, i.e. a crazy high number of PSV licenses have been issued on routes like Silver Sands and the Pine. The end result is the ‘mini-bus hustle’ which has led to a negative sub-culture in our society.
The average Barbadian is aware that many of the PSV permits are issued to people who are ‘connected’. We are disappointed that successive governments or opposition leaders would not have made an attempt to address this matter. We all accept that an efficient transportation system is key to any country which is committed to high productivity. As we alluded to, the people who have received permits over the years have done so through the back door. This is unfortunate because the PSV industry emerged in the late 70s and early 80s as a service offered by “poor black” businessmen. It has progressed today to a situation where the buses are owned by politicians, policemen, civil servants and other people of affluence. The consequence is that the PSV culture has now taken on a momentum which our society seems to lack the will to put a brake on.
The time for this foolishness to stop is now.
We feel that there is no better time for the tight lipped civil-servants at the Chief licensing Authority, who are aware of the manipulation of the system of issuing PSV permits, to speak-out. A Minister in our government has no right to be able to make the unilateral decisions which Barbadians have observed over the years without being answerable to the people. The option of having to wait five years is unacceptable, but this is for another article.
What has prompted this outburst from BU is yet again, on the eve of an election, there is “word” that PSV permits are being sold for $5,000.00. Although we cannot prove this in a court of law, there is enough in the People’s Court to support our call for a Forensic Audit to be undertaken at the Chief Licensing Authority in the Pine. If this is done, we are very confident that some high ranking officials would have been discovered to have broken the laws of Barbados.
Now that both parties have promised to introduce Integrity Legislation, should we now become confident that the known practice of permits being sold will be abandoned? Barbados Underground makes the promise to the people of Barbados that if we do not see some effort to clean up the sorry mess at the Chief Licensing Authority, we will start to name names.
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