From as early as 5 am yesterday, maxi taxi drivers gathered at the Tarouba Flyover to begin a motorcade bound for Port-of-Spain. They would drive at 65 kmh during the activity, one of several issues they have with the Ministry of Transport.
The police eventually told the maxi drivers that they weren’t allowed to gather at the flyover, forcing them to depart earlier than planned. However, there were no reports of the motorcade causing a traffic disruption along the highway.
Roughly 40 maxi taxis took part in the motorcade, which saw operators driving from Tarouba to Port-of-Spain and back to south Trinidad.
However, hundreds of passengers who depend on the service to get to work or school were left scrambling to find alternative forms of transport to get to their destinations.
Before the motorcade started, Association of Maxi Taxi Operators secretary Vickash Kissoondath told Guardian Media that one of the main issues facing drivers in southern Trinidad was PH taxi drivers operating their routes. He also said the 65-kmh speed limit was difficult for a maxi taxi, given the “drive strain” of the vehicles.
Kissoondath said the association received roughly 90 per cent of support from the southern maxi taxi drivers, which he deemed a success.
When Guardian Media drove through parts of San Fernando, there were only a few people at many of the usual maxi taxi stands.
However, some San Fernando to Point Fortin maxi drivers did not support the call from the association.
At the San Fernando maxi hub near King’s Wharf, the brown band maxi taxis were the only ones that could be seen on the stand. At the time Guardian Media was at the hub, two drivers from that route could be seen plying their trade.
Abiola “Dr Nuts” Wolf, a longtime nuts vendor at King’s Wharf, said the maxi taxi shutdown had little impact on commuters travelling that particular route.
He stated, “Whole day the maxis were running as normal. We had no problems down here. Maxis come and maxis go.”
He added, “All the maxis strike in town and along the east-west corridor because they having problems. We are not having those problems down here. We have a straight highway. We have main roads, and then we don’t have any robbery problem. It had no need for the south maxis to strike. They don’t have a problem. They getting enough money and they have a highway. The east-west corridor needs some security.”
Yesterday afternoon, the San Fernando bus terminal was empty, while along some bus stops, Public Transport Service Corporation buses could be seen picking up passengers. The three-day shutdown by maxi taxi drivers is set to enter its second day today.
