Do not pay increased bus fare – Minister Prashad again urges

Georgetown, GINA, May 15, 2008

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad has indicated that his ministry has been monitoring the ‘bus fare’ issue closely and has observed that some bus operators have increased the fares despite the agreement that they would not increase unless the price for gasoline reached $1,000 per gallon. A few unscrupulous bus operators have been demanding increases, but the Minister said that he is urging consumers against paying because of the agreements that the various public transport associations made with President Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister Prashad at a meeting a week ago.

Guyana360: Good avice Minister Prashad! We almost forgot that Guyana has a Ministry of Tourism (not judging from tourists parading downtown). You are telling commuters one thing, but where is the alternative? You numbskull, get off that comfy office chair and visit the bus parks at nights, especially the East Coast and East Bank parks. Hundreds of workers are trying to get home by any means necessary, the least they want to do is to resist paying an increased fare.

Minister, you go home to your wife (we would hope) plumped in the back seat of your Prado, while you want the Guyanese people to stay at the bus parks all night trying to prove a point.

Your Government has failed to implement a transportation policy and the mess at the bus parks and fare hikes are infants of a failed Government that lacks vision. Short-term to mid-range strategies have amounted to confusion. Don’t take our word, ask the commuters. You are telling commuters