Call for fulfillment of promises
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - BUS drivers plying their trade along the St. Peter’s route had staged a protest yesterday (Mar. 23) over a decision by the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force to institute changes without proper notification.
The drivers are now calling for all the promises made to construct a new bus terminal for the area to begin.
At the center of the protest is the fact that the Traffic Department began painting the area where the drivers normally use as their bus park with yellow lines. This means that the drivers cannot park in that location, and they were not happy as many of them were caught by surprise.
All of this comes as the Public Works Department last evening switched on the new Signal Lights in the area at the junction of College Street Ghaut and Cayon Street.
Many bus operators expressed their frustration at the arbitrary position taken by the Traffic Department and called for a speedy remedy to the situation.
Public Relations Officer of the St. Peter’s Bus Association, Delroy 'Pabo' Carey lamented that several promises were made during a discussion with Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris, including the construction of a terminal at Carnival Village.
He called on the Minister of Transport, Lindsay Grant, and the area Representative Eugene Hamilton to bring a speedy end to the challenges the drivers are facing.
“We are also appealing to the police at this time for security in the Ghaut. We have been appealing not for the busmen alone but for the passengers alike who have to stand here at nights,” he noted.
Vice President of the St. Peters Bus Association, Devon Caines revealed that the officers only came on Tuesday (Mar. 23) shortly before the lights were turned on and asked them to move further up in the Ghaut.
He noted that a number of vehicles were parked on both sides of the area preventing them from successfully plying their trade.
Compounding the problem for the drivers is that they are also now relocated to where one of the cross walks is situated in the Ghuat along with two speed bumps.
“I find that to be unacceptable! To me, busmen in society are very important, and over the years we’ve been mistreated a lot, especially by the Traffic Department. One of our fellow busmen was arrested because of a placard saying, ‘We want a bus stop’ he had. I see nothing wrong with that…But I guess when you speak out, that’s how things go,” explained Caines.
The police drew a number of yellow lines in the lower section of College Street Ghaut above Cayon Street, including blocking persons in several areas who have businesses or homes from being able to park outside their premises.
One such person is businessman Anthony Phillip of Auto Plus Car Wash, where a yellow line is drawn in front of his place of operation.
“I came this morning (yesterday) and all of the buses park up in front of me…I am a business owner and I have nowhere to store my cars other than in front of me. I went and I talked to them. First, I went and talked to the guy who was painting and he said nothing could be done,” Phillip explained.
He too claimed that no consultation or discussions were had with him before the lines were drawn.
The drivers were able to have an audience with Minister Grant, Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Transport, and Commissioner of Police Hilroy Brandy, as well as a number of other senior government officials.
