( L - R ) Ward, Bartlett

WESTERN BUREAU:

Contracted carriage companies in the tourist industry say they are not in a position to absorb the Transport Authority's (TA) 20 per cent increase in road licence fees this year, as a result of the economic crunch.

In addition to the $12,000 fee, the drivers representing the Jamaica Union of Travellers Association (JUTA), Jamaica Car and Limousine and Maxi Tours may be asked to fork out $1,500 for a special identification badge come March 31.

"We are struggling to make ends meet under the economic conditions and our members just can't afford it," chapter secretary of JUTA Montego Bay Ewan Ward told The Gleaner. There are some 3,000 members in the organisation which serves the island's two airports, cruise-ship ports and hotels.

Ward said that the tourism dollar was not trickling down and even if there were to be an increase in tourist arrivals, the people coming in are being handled by private agencies and destination management companies.

Concerns redirected

The group said it sought the intervention of the tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett, who told them that he had redirected their concerns to Daniel Dawes, managing director of the TA. They have not heard anything else since then, even after several attempts, they say, to get the ears of the TA head.

Efforts by The Gleaner to get a comment from the TA also proved futile and questions posed to communications officer Petra Keene-Williams were unanswered.

In the meantime, Maxi's vice-president, Hubert Connell, said it was 'wait and see' and that a number of its members had not gone in to renew their licence.

"We are not getting the business that we got in the past," lamented the Maxi official who blamed the reduction on the drop in cruise-ship business, particularly to the tourism capital, Montego Bay. "A lot of drivers depend on the cruise lines, and even Carnival, which was supposed to come here (Montego Bay terminal) today (Wednesday) with some 3,000 passengers, cancelled."

Requests deferral

Careful not to spur a conflict with the authorities come March 31 when their road licence expires, the taxi operators are asking that the fees be deferred until 2010.

Their calls come weeks after the Government announced a $50 million stimulus package for the industry, money, many say, they cannot access because of bureaucratic red tape.

The Gleaner also tried, without success, to reach tourism minister Edmund Bartlett.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com