For decades successive governments have demonstrated the inability to regulate our public transportation system. Why should we be surprised at this state of affaires if political parties are unable to manage internal affairs? The inefficiency and chaos in the PSV sector is a confirmation that there is a systemic problem to be solved.
The video was submitted by FearPlay.
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The vast majority of the bad boy workforce is part of the so-called zr culture.
“…for our system of government to work as intended the public service must work independently of the executive?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is this not yet another way of saying that we are hopelessly screwed?
As Caswell has been pointing out now for YEARS, the politicians took control of the Public Service and now CASUALLY appoint their family, intimate friends, political allies, and lackies to CRITICAL Public Service positions.
With such selection criteria, only the IMF (who don’t give two hoots) and the incurably naive could presume ANY kind of such ‘independence’.
How can a SELECTED CJ for example EVER be seen as independent -(EVEN IF HE IS) when dealing with politically sensitive issues?
How can you explain a PS signing a letter lying about Covid vaccines, when even the Minister knew nothing about it, ….and it is the Minister that was fired, while they BOTH were ‘honored’?
Simple Simon is 100% right, except that it DOES NOT EVEN require any ‘bullying’, since the Public Servants are mere PUPPETS of the politicians.
One does not need to ‘bully’ a POPPET.
On the front page of today’s Nation a PSV driver with grey in his beard is saying “We old boys don’t want more training; we already got good habits. It’s just the young ones they give licences to at age 19 and 20 that cause problems.”
Please note that the driver charged in the incident noted above is NOT a 19 or 20 year old, but is in fact an “old boy” or to speak correctly a MIDDLE AGED MAN.
It is long time since that I suggested mandatory training, and that it should be tied to licensing. No training. No licence. And that training should be provided and mandated perhaps every 3 years or so. I mean which sensible person refuses training?
And remember I am likely the only person on this blog that have almost exclusively taken PSV’s since February 1999. Yes I drive a family vehicle from time to time and yesterday I took a Transport Board bus, but I expect that I have more experience as a PSV commuter that all of the bloggers combined, and more PSV commuter experience that ALL Cabinet ministers combined.
Lest we forget it was the daddies and granddadies, and uncles and great uncles of our current public service drivers who went to London and helped to make London Transport one of the finest public transport systems in the world.
We can do it here too.
And licenses should be granted principally to owner/drivers.
No more that 2 or 3 licencences should be granted to any individual or company.
And no handing down of licenses from parent to child. The licence should remain the property of the state. Can a doctor hand down his medical licence to his kid? Can a lawyer do so?
What we need to do is to keep the rent seekers out. People who want to sit on their bottoms at home, or in their air conditioned offices and live sweet off de sweat of the hard working drivers and conductors, and the long suffering commuters.
Enough of damn foolishness.
Give training to bad apples
by CARLOS ATWELL carlosatwell@nationnews.com
SOME PUBLIC SERVICE VEHICLE (PSV) operators are upset they have to complete mandatory certification training to stay on the road, lamenting that they were being forced to pay for the “bad apples” among them.
They said they had already undergone such training and if anything, it should be the ones now getting behind the wheel or new to conducting who should have to run that route.
However, some commuters are on board with the new directive outlined on Monday by Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works Santia Bradshaw, who said the training sessions will start from October 1.
A number of PSV operators in the Constitution River Terminal in Bridgetown yesterday told the MIDWEEK NATION
that the training was nothing new and wondered why they had to do it all over again.
“I did that training already. That would be good for the ones who just jump in but not for us. The driver in that video want sending home because he making we look bad, but I would object to doing that training again,” driver Winston Franklin said.
Dangerous driving
He was referring to the recent viral video depicting a PSV operator driving dangerously along Lower Collymore Rock, St Michael, by crossing over into the oncoming traffic lane to get ahead of another PSV. That driver has been suspended pending review.
“Mandy”, a conductress, said she too did a course at the Barbados Community College (BCC) and was certified. “I feel that is more for the youngsters trying to get into the business. The old heads already know how to behave so I’m not sure if I would want to do it again. Look, the whole transport sector need cleaning up, not only us; there’s too much ‘unfairness’ going on,” she complained.
Driver Emmerson Marshall said training was for the youth.
‘Done that’
“We old boys don’t want more training, we already got good habits. It’s just the young ones they give licences to at age 19 and 20 that cause problems. We need responsible people on PSVs. There’s nothing wrong with going to school but I’ve already been. Leave that for the younger ones,” he declared.
Marshall challenged the authorities to come out their offices and ride on a PSV to get a firsthand account of what was going on.
On Monday, Bradshaw pointed out that the training sessions, formulated by the Transport Authority and the BCC, were conceptualised to promote safe driving practices.
Yesterday, chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael – who was present at Monday’s meeting with Bradshaw – said training was conducted around 20 years ago but it was not a certification programme. However, he added, times had changed. “There were no certificates for that course and the one now will be a refresher because many things have changed since then.”
There was also a six-week BCC course in 2018 where Raphael was quoted as lamenting more taxi operators were taking advantage than PSV operators. When asked about this, he said that course was organised by a tourism entity but the upcoming one would feature different criteria.
The AOPT boss said he did not believe the course would only be in a classroom setting and it would not require a “university degree”, adding PSV owners would also be briefed as to their roles.
“While we support the measures, we hope commuters are involved in the regulations as some of the responsibility falls on them. One of the biggest headaches is commuters encouraging operators in wrongdoing. Overseas they use bus stops but here they want to be picked up and dropped off in front their homes,” he said.
Driver Idris Hackett said he too took part in the previous training but would do it again if he had to, but charged that “them done know the bad apples but won’t do nothing about them”.
A PSV owner/ driver, who declined to be identified, agreed there were “bad apples” spoiling the bunch.
“When men do foolishness, report them and take away their licence. You can’t let bad apples come and upset the system. I got my certificate from BCC years ago so do I have to do it again? If so, then I will do it,” he said.
Commuters also had their say on the training initiative.
“Miss Brathwaite” welcomed the news, stressing that some operators behaved too badly.
“Not all drivers are bad but some do nonsense and when you speak to them, they curse the passengers. I’ve seen some of them do a lot of nonsense but if they want to kill me, put me off because they ain’t taking me to the Lord early,” she said, adding she told her children to get off any van being driven badly.
Another who only gave his name as “Smith” said while the training was a good idea, he was sceptical.
“Truthfully, the training may not make a difference because it’s all about getting money, so they may ignore the training when they get back on the road. One thing the authorities need to do is get rid of the pirates,” he suggested.
Source: Nation
@David September 11, 2024 at 6:38 am “Of course they don’t work independently , they have to align and execute the policies of the executive within the boundary of public service rules.”
You’ve lost me David.
New PSV regulations at Cabinet, says Bradshaw
Mandatory tracking devices and training, as well as increased accountability for public sector vehicle (PSV) owners, are among the new regulations the Cabinet of Barbados is pushing to approve.
Minister of Transport and Works Santia Bradshaw gave that assurance as she continued to advocate for more responsible driving in the sector.
“There is technology out there that already exists within the insurance industry which insists that owners of vehicles install tracking devices. Having recognised that already exists and there is a format, we said we would make a quick amendment to the regulations, pull out that provision and have a separate regulation that deals with that.
“So rather than the Transport Authority being responsible for the oversight, what we are seeking to do by way of the separate regulation is to ensure that we set the standard that mandatory vehicle tracking must be in a vehicle, what it must look like and that we have access to the information when we get complaints from the general public about specific offences,” Bradshaw said.
She made those comments during Christ Church Speaks on Wednesday night at the Christ Church Foundation School as she responded to a resident who asked for an update on the proposed PSV regulations.The resident suggested there was still too much recklessness and disorder in the sector.
Bradshaw said holding disorderly drivers accountable while they were transporting passengers was critical, adding they were also seeking to address concerns about vulgar music being played on the vehicles while at the same time ensuring owners were held responsible for who they hired.
“Many of the persons who own vehicles don’t drive in those vehicles and do not transport any person. However, we have a responsibility as Government to make sure that people are safe as well, so owners have to have responsibilities in relation to what drivers do once they are provided with that permit.
“We’ve said ‘You can’t hire somebody who you know is constantly breaching the law’. You cannot just ignore it and say ‘There is a shortage of drivers and we have to hire who is available’,” she added.
Bradshaw said this was where the training with the Barbados Community College (BCC) would be critical.
“We are working with BCC to roll out certified training for the conductors and drivers of the vehicles,” she said.
Bradshaw recalled there were numerous consultations with PSV associations, the police and other stakeholders.
“I assure you we are tightening it. There are 21 iterations of this particular set of regulations over the years . . . . I wouldn’t say it’s watertight, because there will still be modifications that have to be made but what I will not do is hold up the regulations any further,” she said.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, also addressing the issue at the session, said the regulations were critical to ensuring the roads were safer.
“I want to thank everyone for their patience. I truly hope that everyone understands that first and foremost a vehicle is a weapon if used inappropriately. It will cost people’s lives or limbs as has happened in the past.
“The regulations will be at Cabinet tomorrow [Thursday] again and without prejudice to the determination of Cabinet, hopefully we will see progress,” she said. (TG)
Source: Nation
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