Some of the taxis with the Multi-Purpose Building in the background
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Lethem taxis complain of raw deal on both sides of border
Posted By Stabroek staff On June 16, 2010 @ 5:15 am In Local News
The Lethem Hire Car Association which represents taxi drivers and owners in Lethem says members are not being allowed to take passengers into Brazil and minibuses on the Guyana side of the border are unfairly cutting into their business.
The Association operates from a shack built at their park which is situated in close proximity to the new Multi-Purpose Complex at Bon Success, which is just off the Takutu Bridge on the Guyana side.
Desmond Adams, the Vice President of the Association and a taxi driver, told Stabroek News that most of the operators cannot meet the August deadline for ensuring that their vehicles are sprayed yellow in accordance with new regulations. He said that they do not have exclusive rights to passengers now and nothing will change when they spray over their cars in yellow.
Wilfred Rajkumar, the immediate past President of the Association told SN that after the pomp and ceremony at the Takutu Bridge opening on September 14th last year, President Bharrat Jagdeo, held a general meeting at the Benab in St. Ignatius Village. Rajkumar said that he asked the President what was the position with taxis operating in Lethem.
According to Rajkumar, the President informed the meeting that he had signed an agreement with the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that would allow Guyana’s taxis to take passengers way into Bon Fim across the border with Guyana, and that the Bon Fim taxis would be allowed to take their passengers into Lethem. However, neither set of taxis would be allowed to pick up passengers on their return trips. According to Rajkumar, the Bon Fim operators were furnished with copies of that agreement by the Brazilian Authorities.
To date, the Lethem operators are yet to see that agreement. However, Rajkumar was able to secure a copy, which is written in Portuguese, and which SN was able to peruse. Rajkumar said that while many Guyanese speak Portuguese, many cannot read it.
Rajkumar told SN that the next day, September 15th, a taxi driver, Leonard Pompey Jnr. asked him for permission to go to Bon Fim, and he was given the go ahead. A few minutes after, he was informed that Pompey was arrested by the Federal Police in Bon Fim. He was later released, after being warned and told not to ever again “bring your taxi in this country.”
Rajkumar also said that the President told the meeting, when asked, that the Boa Vista taxis should not be allowed to come into Lethem if the Lethem taxis could not go to Boa Vista. Boa Vista is a town some 76 miles from the border town of Bon Fim. “Yet these taxis are allowed to come across the border on jobs while the Lethem taxis can’t even go across the border with their cars,” lamented Rajkumar. Further, the Bon Fim Taxis are still coming across to Guyana to work.
Amicable
As a result a meeting was called between the two sides to work out an amicable solution. At that meeting it was verbally agreed that the Lethem taxis would take their passengers to the Federal outpost on the border and the Bon Fim taxis would take the passengers farther in if it was required. Likewise, should a Bon Fim taxi have a passenger for Lethem, he would drop off the passenger at the Multi-Purpose Complex at Bon Success. That agreement is not followed to the letter by the taxis operating out of Bon Fim, Rajkumar lamented.
He further informed SN that the Federal Police in Bon Fim are taking action in support of the taxis there but the police in Guyana are not fully supportive of the Lethem taxis’ cause. He said that Bon Fim taxis can still be seen plying their trade on the Guyana side of the border. This, he said, was unfair.
Another, more recent development is the practice of the Bon Fim taxis connecting their customers to the various bus services that ply the Lethem/Georgetown route. According to the past President, which was corroborated by the drivers present, the minibuses used to travel to the Federal Outpost located just inside the Brazilian border, to solicit passengers who may be travelling to Georgetown. This practice was discouraged by the Federal Police so what the bus companies now do is liaise with the Bon Fim operators for them to call the bus companies whenever they have passengers.
The bus companies would then send a bus to the complex to pick up the passengers thus robbing the Lethem taxis of a fare. He noted that while the buses are allowed to enter the Complex compound, the taxis are not allowed to. This, he said, was tantamount to unfair competition.
Another dimension to the problem is the operation of the private hire cars. According to the past President, the bus companies employ at least four known private hire cars to take touts as far as 30 km into Brazil at a place known as Toucanno, where the Portuguese-speaking touts solicit passengers for the respective bus companies.
When these passengers reach Bon Fim, they are put into the private hire cars and taken to the various bus companies. “How are we expected to survive and pay our bills?” asked Rajkumar.
He said that the authorities are aware of all the private hire cars since the police, regional officials, customs officers and members of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) use these as their first preference. He also stated that when the taxi operators complain about the private cars, they are being pointed out by the police thus causing “bad blood”.
When contacted for a comment, a source close to the police acknowledged that the police were aware of some of the issues raised.
The source informed SN that several meetings were held between the Lethem Hire Car Association and the Police. He said that some members of the association were selfish and wanted everything for themselves. He said that the police cannot stop a zone 94 minibus from plying its trade anywhere in Lethem since the Road Service Licence states that the bus is authorised to operate from Georgetown to Lethem.
The source stated that the police would be in breach of that licence and can be taken to court.
The source said that the taxis on both sides of the border have to operate within the ambit of the laws of whichever country the operation is carried out in. He said that the Lethem taxi operators can be accused of attempts to circumvent the laws of Brazil and that is one of the main reasons why they were stopped.
In an unrelated matter, SN pointed out that many heavily-tinted vehicles from Brazil and Venezuela can be seen regularly in Lethem and that it was against the laws of Guyana to have tints of that intensity.
The source said that the issue was a complicated one. He said that the police attempted to prevent such vehicles from entering the country but were instructed by the authorities to desist. The source said that the police feel impotent in situations like these.
He demonstrated this when he pointed out that the Customs Unit was driving such a vehicle around Lethem for over 6 months with an “On Test“ number plate.
The vehicle was among several that were seized by the Customs Department. The police source said that when the officials were confronted, they referred the police to the GRA which later called the police and told them that the vehicle was “hands-off to the police.” The vehicle now has a Guyana number plate.
Nota del editor del blog: Al referenciarse a la República Cooperativa de Guyana se deben de tener en cuenta los 159.500Km2, de territorios ubicados al oeste del río Esequibo conocidos con el nombre de Guayana Esequiba o Zona en Reclamación sujetos al Acuerdo de Ginebra del 17 de febrero de 1966.
Territorios estos sobre los cuales el gobierno Venezolano en representación de la Nación venezolana se reservo sus derechos sobre los territorios de la Guayana Esequiba en su nota del 26 de mayo de 1966 al reconocerse al nuevo Estado de Guyana .
“...por lo tanto, Venezuela reconoce como territorio del nuevo Estado, el que se sitúa al este de la margen derecha del río Esequibo y reitera ante la comunidad internacional, que se reserva expresamente sus derechos de soberanía territorial sobre la zona que se encuentra en la margen izquierda del precitado río; en consecuencia, el territorio de la Guayana Esequiba sobre el cual Venezuela se reserva expresamente sus derechos soberanos, limita al Este con el nuevo Estado de Guyana, a través de la línea del río Esequibo, tomando éste desde su nacimiento hasta su desembocadura en el Océano Atlántico...”
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