Amongst the concerns raised on the widely viewed Early in the Morning with Jerry S. George episode on Facebook last Saturday was the matter of social distancing on minivans.<\/p>\n
The New Democratic Party President Dr. Godwin Friday weighed in while acknowledging that, \u201cminivan drivers of course want to make a dollar. But they don\u2019t want to endanger their passengers and they don\u2019t want to endanger themselves as well so we say quite clearly this is what you need to do\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
An NDP guided holistic COVID-19 national response would have included, \u201ctaking duties off all the imports of parts and so on for the rest of the year [or] reducing the registration fees \u2013 it costs about a$1000.00 to register a van.<\/p>\n
“So what if the government say listen as part of the stimulus package we\u2019re getting money from the IMF, we\u2019re getting money from the World Bank, we\u2019re going to subsidize to a certain extent. You won\u2019t pay your registration fee for a year or something like that. It gives money back to the van drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they are more likely, then, to subscribe voluntarily to the measures because they know it\u2019s in their best interest from a health perspective. So they want to comply but they don\u2019t want to be carrying the bag for the rest \u2026they want to know they\u2019re also going to benefit from the stimulus package,\u201d Dr. Friday posited.<\/p>\n
Since then the government issued a Monday March 30, 2020 advisory which exhorted the travelling public to observe social distancing protocols on board minivans by only allowing 3 passengers per row of seats in the body of the van and 1 person in the front.<\/p>\n
This \u2018rule\u2019 effectively reduces the 18 seater capacity to 12 passengers per \u2018full trip.\u2019<\/p>\n
Guidelines for 21 seaters which are widely used to transport school children and other passengers to the extremities of mainland St. Vincent have not been published.<\/p>\n
A telephone interview published by SVGTV captured the Vincentian Transportation Association (VINTAS) vice president Angus Mckie as he underscored the importance of compliance to the advisor while advising on how public transportation operators may access financial relief.<\/p>\n
Operators wishing to avail themselves of the local banking sector-wide moratorium packages negotiated as part of the Dr. Gonsalves-led economic stimulus strategy, must first submit a written request.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose van drivers who have loans at the banks, they would be able to write the banks and they won\u2019t have to incur any interests on their loans nor would they have to pay the principal for the loans for at least a 3 month period, but they would have to put it in writing and submit it to the banks,\u201d Angus McKie conveyed.<\/p>\n
The VINTAS VP also opined, \u201cfor the time being because of the safety of the public I think they would comply because it is in the interest and the own detriment of them and the public if they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
“The public have to do their part in this. If they stop a van and they see the van already have 3 on a seat and the conductor trying to push you in any jam up position, don\u2019t go in the van.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further the government, after talks with the relatively unknown VINTAS, announced its retroactive reduction of petrol prices at local pumps by $1 per gallon. Hence the local gas price is now down to $11.97 while the diesel price was also reduced by $1 down to $10.79, with another reduction promised \u201cwithin the next 3 weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other measures include a monthly stipend for 3 months as of April 2020 and cleaning costs to be absorbed by the government. These cleaning costs would cover Health Ministry managed cleaning services to be situated at the bus terminals in Kingstown.<\/p>\n
Asbert News Network attempted to verify the precise enforcement protocols and correspondent penalties that would be meted out for non-compliance of social distancing measures, especially given the fact that most vans this reporter has encountered since the declaration of the advisory operate as if it\u2019s business as usual.<\/p>\n
Julian Francis, Transport and Works Minister, deferred us at first contact to \u201cthe relevant health authorities\u201d as he was cognizant that \u201cthis is a medical matter,\u201d even though he is \u201cresponsible for public transport.\u201d Since no response was forthcoming from those quarters Asbert News Network reverted to Minister Francis in hopes that a sufficiently clear policy position would be articulated.<\/p>\n
Minster Francis again deferred us, this time to the Superintendent of Police Kenneth John.
\nA quick telephone interview with Kenneth John, who is the Superintendent of Police with responsibility for the nation\u2019s vehicular traffic, brought some further insight.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Prime Minister Gonsalves] was willing to give the owner for the minibus a little stipend at the end of the month but you must be registered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether this meant persons must be registered with the new association, the career police officer replied, \u201cno you must register with [the Ministry of] Transport and Works. So that once you register there the money will automatically, whatsoever little that he\u2019s giving you, will just automatically go into your account or something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s media release described, as part of \u201ca three-pronged response, \u2026 its willingness to assist the omnibus operators cushion the economic losses.\u201d<\/p>\n
As such a stipend amount between $250 and $300 \u201cwill be given to omnibuses for 3 months in the first instance as of April 2020. The registration process, to facilitate stipend distribution, was to have been determined by the Ministry of Finance, the release noted.<\/p>\n
The SoP, who has acknowledged acquiescing to the Prime Minister\u2019s request that he delay his retirement a second time, declined knowing the precise progress made by the Transport Ministry as far as operationalizing the omnibus operators\u2019 stipend registry.<\/p>\n
Transport and Works Minister Julian Francis confirmed on April 1 that approach was \u201cjust decided two days ago [Mar 30]. The system is not yet in place.\u201d He however promised that the registry should be ready, \u201cby next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the day to day monitoring of omnibus operators, \u201cmy officers went out since 5 a.m. this morning [April 1] \u2026 they are saying a number of the drivers are complying and the passengers love that because a lot of persons are concerned for their safety.<\/p>\n
“But there are a few in between that still carry the 4 [passengers on a seat]. Those who are complying have a problem with those carrying 4 because if they carry 3 then nobody else should carry 4. So there is a little problem there,\u201d SoP John reported.<\/p>\n
Superintendent John stressed that his officers know the law, so despite the fact that the buses might be licensed 18 seaters he urged travelers to judge whether the police are trying to do a good versus a bad thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern therefore, is to ensure that our public is safe. It\u2019s just a guideline, we just asking persons to do these things and well the government is supporting it very much so. And I believe it is for the betterment of every [member of the] travelling public; the safety of the passengers, the safety of the conductor and the safety of the driver.\u201d<\/p>\n
To help ensure that omnibus operators start complying with regulations now as opposed to waiting until \u201csay 3 or 4 persons get infected,\u201d SOP John deployed the forces at his command to points around mainland St. Vincent from as far north as Sandy Bay, out to the Marriaqua Valley, up the Leeward Coast and around the Kingstown suburbs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we observed was that some of them started out with 3 per seat but as they passed the officers some of them pack up their vans. A number of persons are complying. But what some of them were saying at first, ok then, if they could get some incentive.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the consequences of individual operators\u2019 non-compliance would hold dire ramifications for our tiny nation, the imposable penalties for drivers who disregard the health advisory do not satisfactorily reflect the proportionate seriousness of the situation.<\/p>\n
SoP John said, \u201cnot everything you have to make laws for, you want to tell me something that would protect you and your family, you\u2019re telling me must let the government pass a law to protect you and your family?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to tell me you\u2019re not capable you\u2019re not responsible enough to protect you and your family? We have to be responsible here because we see what happens in the outside world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope it would never reach to a big-stick approach. One of the standards we\u2019re planning to do too once you decide to carry your 18 passengers and we stop you; we\u2019re saying that you\u2019re not going to move that van from deh unless you comply with the guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n
No further sanctions seem to be in place just yet especially for repeat offenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an individual and collective responsibility, don\u2019t you think? I observe a lot of other businesses being very correct and creative,\u201d Minister Francis responded when urged to consider the fact that omnibus operators\u2019 COVID-19 response be regulated given the importance of public transportation to the Vincentian society and the potential for local minivans to facilitate “community spread of the pernicious COVID-19 virus.”<\/p>\n
\u201cIs behavior in private residence or public place[s] regulated? No. It\u2019s advised,\u201d the Ministry of Transport and Works boss responded.<\/p>\n
JP.Schwmon.Vincy@Gmail.Com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amongst the concerns raised on the widely viewed Early in the Morning with Jerry S. George episode on Facebook last Saturday was the matter of social distancing on minivans. The New Democratic Party President Dr. Godwin Friday weighed in while acknowledging that, \u201cminivan drivers of course want to make a dollar. But they don\u2019t want<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n