Egerton Newman, president of Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS), is urging transport operators to give the government more time to address the challenges facing public transport sector.

At least 25 per cent of public transport operators are participating in an island-wide strike. This follows a decision by the Transport Authority regarding the suspension of driver’s licenses for public transport operators who have accumulated 10 demerit points.

“It is not widespread, but it is significant to the commuting public, who are not able to move around today. We are hoping that the strike action will be short-lived; most of the major players in the public transport sector are not in for any strike action today, but of course, there are some people who are upset with the challenges in the sector and decided to take action,” Newman said.

However, Newman said the major players in the public transport sector have decided not to participate in the island-wide strike. He said it is ‘unwise’ for public transport operators to stage an island-wide strike, while transport groups are currently at the bargaining table with the government.

“We believe that the government should be given some time to address these issues and get back to us before we have demonstrations,” Newman said.

“I think one of the major issues in the sector at this time is the automatic removal of our license or suspension if you have 10 demerit points or more. Our concerns are that some of these demerit points are unwarranted. A passenger sits in the car, and of course, they do not want to put on their seat belts. You, the driver, get that ticket, and demerit points occur to you instead of the passenger. They cannot give the passenger demerit points; the driver has to take those and pay the fines, and he loses his license because of issues like that. So we are saying that the government should look into it, but we are at the table discussing the matter, which of course cannot be changed overnight, and that is why we are asking for the operators to give us some time to discuss the matter with the government and for the laws to change,” Newman added.

He said the government committed to making the necessary changes to the Road Traffic Act to address these areas of concern.

“Our last meeting was last week on Wednesday, and the next meeting is tomorrow, so we expect to hear some good news, maybe tomorrow, but we are still giving the government until Friday,” he said.