St. George’s, Grenada, June 15th 2011: Former Minister of Works and Transport, Sen. the Hon. Gregory Bowen says the Government can do a lot more to ease the burden on bus men throughout the island and is calling for swift action by Government to bring relief to bus owners and operators.

According to Bowen, the rising cost of living and the steady increase in the price of fuel, has been making it impossible for many bus operators to continue to ply our nation’s road.  He said in some cases many bus owners are forced to ‘park up’ their buses while some continue to operate at a loss, and still other are losing their buses,  not able to meet their financial commitments at the various lending institutions. 

With the price change expected on June 18th the former Minister is calling on the Government to further assist.  He said if the price of fuel continues to increase bus fares could be affected.  This he said will have unfortunate consequences for the ordinary Grenadians who use these services daily. 

As such, he is calling on the Government to give further consideration to the bus men by providing concessions on items used for the general upkeep of their vehicles to avoid this possibility. 

The former Minister says the busmen play an important role in national development and must be given special attention in these tough economic times.