‘More teeth’: Police probe tourist’s taxi complaints

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Writer

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The taxi union’s president yesterday admitted the authorities need “more teeth” to punish rogue operators as the police were summoned to investigate an alleged incident involving one driver and a group of tourists.

Wesley Ferguson, the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union’s (BTCU) chief, told Tribune Business that the roll-out of the new code of conduct for drivers will help curb conflicts involving the sector and visitors as a group of cruise ship passengers complained one operator had absconded with their belongings and left them stranded to the beach. They also had to spend hundreds of extra dollars to find an alternative ride back to the cruise port.

Conceding that the taxi industry’s current code of conduct lacks the “teeth” to be effective and levy proper disciplinary measures against drivers who have “spiralled out of control”, Mr Ferguson added: “We are still waiting on the ministry [of transport and housing] to actually roll out the new code of conduct. That’s to sort of mitigate some of these incidents and give them some kind of clear directive on what course of action should be taken in a situation like this.

“We need the ministry to agree on it and have it gazetted, basically as law, so it can give the authorities more teeth in order to have efficient and good governance in the taxi industry. Because of a lack of administrators and the lack of disciplinary measures levied against taxi drivers, they seem to basically spiral out of control.”

A video was widely circulated on social media yesterday depicting a tourist relaying their alleged experience with a taxi driver. The speaker identified herself as Megan, and said she hired a taxi to take her party of 18 around for the day at a rate of $30 per person.

She alleged that the driver dropped the group off at Junkanoo Beach and agreed to collect them at 3pm. Megan said the driver never returned for the group and absconded with a bag of her daughter’s that contained souvenirs and the sea card for the cruise ship. She added that the experience cost her group $610.

“We paid $30 a person for 18 people to drive us around for the day,” Megan said. “He said he would take us anywhere we wanted to go for the day. We went to the Queen’s Staircase and then he drove us to Junkanoo Beach, where he said he would be back at 3pm to pick us up and never came back to get us.

“He said we could leave our belongings in his vehicle, and my daughter left her bag with her necklace and her bracelet that we had just bought from the market by this Queen’s Staircase, and her sea card to get back on the ship. Then he never came back to get us. We had to pay another $70 in taxis to get back to the port, so that’s what $600.. $610 now we’ve paid.”

Mr Ferguson said the union was responsible for making the video. It was passed to the relevant authorities and he was unaware of how became public. He added that the taxi union is conducting the investigation because they have an agreement with the Nassau Cruise Port (NCP), and that incidents such as this happen “daily”.

He said: “It is the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union who is in charge of the investigation because we have an agreement with Nassau Cruise Port to actually operate and run the taxi industry, so we assist them in the disciplinary measures against taxi drivers.

“It’s on a daily basis that these things happen. It’s just that particular video was recorded by an executive of the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union, and I don’t know how it went viral, but it was the union that passed the information on to the police, the authorities at the Nassau Cruise Port and the Road Traffic Controller, Linda Moxey.”

“Road Traffic is supposed to be the watchdogs of this industry, make sure that dress codes are kept, upkeeping of your taxi, making sure you have all the requisite licences and paperwork that qualifies you to be a taxi driver,” Mr Ferguson added.

“The responsibility of disciplining taxi drivers rests on the shoulders of the Road Traffic controller. We pass the information on to the controller so that she can have all of the information that she needs in order to do proper due process and disciplinary measures.”

Mr Ferguson again criticised the issuance of new taxi plates to drivers who were not properly trained and regulated, adding that the situation is a “dark mark” on the taxi and tourism industries. 

He said: “I went on record and said look for the influx of the new taxi drivers untrained, ungazetted, unregulated. This was going to happen. I’ve been in this industry long enough to know when things are going to go haywire. He received a new taxi plate. I wouldn’t say he’s a new driver but you have to understand, when things get out of hand and you have an uptick in competition, it causes good drivers to turn bad because the competition is fierce. The union went on record to say that these kinds of things may happen.”

Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister of transport and housing,said yesterday that the ministry is aware of the incident and police are looking into the matter. “Please be advised the Ministry of Transport and Housing and the Road Traffic Department is aware of the incident involving a taxi driver and a tourist. The police are investigating the matter. Once the police investigation is completed, the ministry will provide an update,” she said.

The taxi driver allegedly involved in the incident yesterday responded in a social media voice note where he denied any wrongdoing. He he acknowledged that he transported a group of 18 at the rate of $30 per person to Junkanoo Beach and arranged to collect them at 3pm.

However, he said he arrived at 2.45pm and waited until 3.20pm for the group and, when they did not come to the vehicle, he left. The driver indicated that to his knowledge none of the tourists’ belongings were left in his taxi and that he is running a business and not obligated to wait on late clients.

He said: “I had these people today on tour, it was 17, 18 of them for $30 a person. I been to the Fort almost an hour with these people. They tell me I must carry them to the beach, come back for them like 3 o’clock. I reach there like 2.45 early, and 3.20 these people ain’t never show up so I leave.

“I ain’t stay there till no 3.30 or no quarter to four because guess what? If the ship say 10 minutes, ain’t no different than the ship. I don’t want nobody to think I obligated to stay there and wait till they decide they want to come back. That ain’t how it work. I running a business and that’s the way it go.”

Comments

DillyTree says...

This is outrageous, but then again, the visitors would only have had to do bare minimal research to find out that not only was Queen's Staircase withing walking distance of the cruise ship port, but that from Junkanoo Beach, the cruise ship was likely visible from the beach!

Still, this driver and any others who continue to take advantage of and literally rob toursits only serve to make the industry look bad as a whole. Indeed, the "bad eggs" need to be punished and their licenses taken away.

Too many times, I've used taxis to get home from the airport, and been overcharged - thinking I was a visitor. I know the rates, and only give the driver the correct fare, and no tip. Don't fleece me! But no everyone knows the rates, and folk over outrageous amounts to these unscrupulous drivers. Enough!

One of the most egregious fleecings was a few years back with a female taxi driver at Marsh Harbour, who took me and 2 other couples to Treasure Cay and the Green Turtle Cay ferry. She dropped off the people at TC, then took us to the ferry. There she demanded we pay her the full fare (each) from MH as if we'd each taken a separate taxi. And we knew the people dropped off in TC had already paid the lion's share of the fare (we'd divided up the costs in the cab on the way up) I reported her to the taxi union, Ministry of Tourism and the local Administrator. The only ones who seemed every remotely interested in pursuing it was the one lady at MoT, but I doubt anything was done, as I heard a similar incident (same driver) not long afterwards.

We already have a reputation for crookedness in the Bahamas -- do we really need to extend that to our visitors? We reep what we sow...

Posted 16 August 2023, 2:25 p.m. Suggest removal

moncurcool says...

> They also had to spend hundreds of
> extra dollars to find an alternative
> ride back to the cruise port.
>
> We had to pay another $70 in taxis to
> get back to the port, so that’s what
> $600.. $610 now we’ve paid.”

The makes the erroneous statement that the people had to pay hundreds of extra dollars to get a rode back, when the facts were they only paid $70 extra. Need facts.

And why is the police investigating? You mean someone can just post something on you and all of a sudden you under police investigation? Is that how it works now?

> She alleged that the driver dropped
> the group off at Junkanoo Beach and
> agreed to collect them at 3pm. Megan
> said the driver never returned for the
> group and absconded with a bag of her
> daughter’s that contained souvenirs
> and the sea card for the cruise ship.
> She added that the experience cost her
> group $610.

So how did the daughter get back on the ship without the card?

> Mr Ferguson said the union was
> responsible for making the video. It
> was passed to the relevant authorities
> and he was unaware of how became
> public. He added that the taxi union
> is conducting the investigation
> because they have an agreement with
> the Nassau Cruise Port (NCP), and that
> incidents such as this happen “daily”.

So the taxi union now responsible for putting in complaints to police on something they have nothing to do with?

And the taxi driver makes an arrangement to pick up the people. Drives there and doesn't even go look for the people? Really?

This whole thing is a mess.

Posted 16 August 2023, 3:23 p.m. Suggest removal

DWW says...

yes, police investigate complaints. stupid statement here

Posted 17 August 2023, 8:16 a.m. Suggest removal

ThisIsOurs says...

"*he is running a business and not obligated to wait on late clients.*"

This must be the dumbest business owner ever. He's supposed to come back for 18 people at a given time and he didnt think to get a contact for at least one of them or to give them his contact? He made almost 600 dollars in a few hours and he abandoned 18 people? well he can bet thats the last time the cruise port allows him to pick up anybody *run the business* somewhere else. 30 dollars per person requires a tour operator who stays with the group. highway robbery

Posted 16 August 2023, 6:51 p.m. Suggest removal

DWW says...

wish i made $540 in 2 hours of work. maybe i am in the wrong business

Posted 17 August 2023, 8:18 a.m. Suggest removal

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