Taxi operators protest over relocation issues
 

By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A large contingent of taxi operators took to the streets of downtown Basseterre around 1 p.m. today (Oct. 27), as they staged a mobile protest to what one taxi driver called “unfair treatment by the government”.

Some 15 vehicles showed solidarity by honking their horns as the procession slowly made its way along Cayon Street, down Church Street and headed northward on Fort Street, the capital’s economic hub.

Ashley Allers, Manager of Calypso Tours Ltd., told SKNVibes that the unrest among taxi and tour operators resulted from the decisions made in a number of meetings held with Port Authority representatives and government personnel.

He informed that two weeks prior to the start of the tourist season, the Port Authority tour invited operators to a meeting at the Pelican Mall where they were advised to relocate their tour operations from the current location near to the cruise ship arrival hall to one that was “away from the flow of tourists”.

He further stated that the representative from the Port Authority said the reason for the move was to “improve and enhance the tourism product”. Allers however informed that when the operators visited the identified location, they recognized that the space was not adequate to accommodate them.

“They told us that they had gotten a building from a private investor on Port Zante and that we would have to increase our payments from EC$ 300 to EC$ 650 per month and pay it to that person. In fact, they wanted us to sign a contract for seven years. We basically told them that we were not interested because it was not an appropriate arrangement. We prefer to pay the Port Authority that money.

“Subsequent to that, they said that they would find some space on the outside of the same building and again, we said t it did not make any sense. They are saying that every time a cruise ship comes in, they would mount a tent for us in front of the unfinished building, but when the building is finished we would have to move again.”

Allers claimed that Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas and General Manager of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) Jason Kelsick were in attendance at the last meeting and they all agreed on providing a space just outside the arrivals hall of Port Zante. Allers said that Kelsick was required to speak with the Port Authority to ensure that the displaced tour operators could return to their normal place of service until the building is completed.

“No one came back to us; they said nothing at all to us! They just went down and mounted a tent which was not only inadequate for us but was also out of the way of the traffic of the tourists. The first boat that came down on Saturday and a number of operators did not make one cent!

We have persons who have invested over US $250,000 into their businesses with some operators building new safaris. We can’t even get to make back any money because we can’t get to do our business!”

Allers indicated that the operators were getting a lot of “run-around” from the Port Authority, Ministry of Tourism and from the government. He also underscored that the tour operators recognized that it was an attempt to “push them into the back”, a step he opines “we cannot afford”.

“Right now at Port Zante, most of the stores down there are owned by Indians; the only business that the locals can proudly say that they own is the taxi/tours business. We cannot afford for them to move us and we are going to stand up for that.”

SKNVibes attempted to make contact with Kelsick shortly after the protest only to be told that he was “out of office”. The Port Authority representative handling the relocation of the taxi operators was similarly unreachable.