An article was published in today’s Sunday Sun (11 October 2025) with the title AOPT threatens Ombudsman action which makes for sober reflection. In summary, the article articulated that the Alliance of Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) is threatening to report the Transport Authority to the Ombudsman, claiming unfair board representation, unlawful permit suspensions and communication failures. President Roy Raphael alleges that AOPT’s board term was shortened, while a rival association received longer representation. He accuses Transport Authority director Ruth Holder of suspending permits without hearings or disciplinary committee recommendations, harming operators whose insurers may cancel coverage.
Transport Minister Kirk Humphrey has rejected the claims, saying representation rotates between the two PSV associations and AOPT will return after the board’s term. He says he has met Raphael and explained his absence from an AOPT awards ceremony. Humphrey defended direct meetings with Transport Augmentation Programme operators, noting they requested them and selected representatives. He urged AOPT to confront indiscipline among PSV drivers. Raphael says unresolved concerns will be taken to the Prime Minister, Ombudsman and regional transport bodies for international support.
To state the obvious, Barbados Underground (BU) is all in on ensuring the principle of natural justice is applied to making decisions. If AOPT believes its members, Public Service Vehicles (PSV), are being hard done, by all means represent. What should pique the curiosity is – the PSVs for many years have been mainly responsible for much of the chaos on our roads with successive governments unable to effectively address. Although the Transport Authority was established in 2007 to pointedly lead the fight, like the majority of government agencies, it has been a toothless tiger. However, in recent times it has been flexing its authority, or so we thought, to address PSV violations. In response the sector has also flexed by restricting its services to the public.
We have created a PSV monster that appears to be ungovernable. In the matter reported, BU is fully supportive of Minister Kirk Humphrey’s effort to address some of the lawlessness that continues to be perpetrated by the PSV sector. The time has long passed for government – who created the mess – to fix it. There is too much at stake for us to continually ignore the devastation that an unruly and chaotic PSV sector has had on our tiny society, especially on our young, impressionable minds.
For the first time, let the PSV sector feel the pressure of government push back. Minister Kirk Humphrey should adopt the battle cry made popular locally by a former colleague now President of Barbados – NO Retreat, NO Surrender. It is time to wrestle this PSV master to the ground once and for all. The hopes and dreams of a small country depend on it.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.