Taxi drivers picket premier’s office over unpaid stimulus grants

BY OLIVIA ROSE

FRUSTRATED taxi drivers picketed the Office of the Premier in Providenciales on Thursday (June 25) to demand their stimulus payments.

The out of work cabbies congregated outside the Hilly Ewing Building while Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson held a press conference inside to address other issues.

The peaceful protest was organised by the Turks and Caicos Taxi Association.

Quincy Parker, who represented the drivers, told the Weekly News that they have been without work for months due to the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

He claimed the Government is turning a blind eye to their plight and refuses to pay them the $1,200 stimulus grant promised months ago.

“The country has been on lockdown for about three months now and the Government said that they were going to take care of the tourism/hospitality industry in the form of a stimulus.

“Taxi drivers are yet to see anything from the Government as far as the stimulus is concerned.

“We put in our applications for the stimulus only to get a response saying that we filled out the wrong forms and we were supposed to fill out the small business forms.

“So we were presented with the small business forms and we filled out the small business forms only to hear that the next reason our application didn’t qualify was for the main fact that our work permits weren’t up to date.”

He explained that the majority of public service operators are indigenous people who are allowed to operate without work permits.

“We don’t need work permits, so how could they come back to us saying our work permits weren’t up to date? We don’t pay or need work permits.”

Parker said the constant hassle from the Government is tantamount to deception.

“So we felt as though we are being given the royal run around, which is something that the Government tends to do.”

He stressed that taxi drivers continue to face excessive and “unnecessary” bureaucracy from the Government even now during a crisis.

“That brings up not only just the stimulus package but a lot of other issues that we have as taxi drivers in our industry, where they have us doing so many things.

“It’s so hard to get your business registered to be able to operate every year.”

Parker said that annually drivers have to fork out money for a range or requirements in order to ply their trade and they usually do so without protest.

“We already paid so many different fees to the Government in so many different areas.

“If they need, we can do a list of all the payments we’ve made from business licence to registering our vehicles, to paying certificates just to say we’ve done our refresher courses every year, to midyear inspection and then having to take into account that we have vehicles to fix.

“We have to buy parts; we have to pay mechanics. Not only that, but we also have our insurance to pay. We have to make sure that the guests that we are taking are insured.”

Parker called on the Government to alleviate the pressure drivers face by cutting back or reducing some of the payments.

“So it’s a lot that we’ve already paid,” he said “now we’re being asked to pay NIB and NHIP.

“While I do agree that these things are necessary and we should pay them I think they should give us a leeway somewhere. This is not fair. It’s not only not fair but it’s not right.”

Parker went on to say that many Islanders are struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic, and the Government’s relief is either too slow or non-existent in some cases.

“We’re at a place right now where we don’t know how we will feed our families. We’re in the middle of a crisis, we cannot work for ourselves.

“They’re a lot of Turks Islanders who haven’t gotten any relief from the Government since the borders have shut down.

“If you watch the news you’ll see most countries have given their people some sort of relief in order for them to get through this crisis.

“We as the people of Turks and Caicos Islands have not seen a relief from our Government.”

President of the All Island Transportation, Blineva Greene, said taxi operators have a myriad of issues that need addressing but the Government continues to brush them aside.

“I don’t think that this Government takes taxi drivers seriously.

We’ve been ignored for years and all we’re asking for is the assistance that they offered during this trying time.

“We’re a group of locals, we’re the first the guests meet when they arrive on island. When the guests are leaving, we are the last to hear what they have to say, whether they like or dislike their experience here in Turks and Caicos.

“We’ve been ignored. This Government seems as if they have no sympathy for the people.

There’s a lot of hungry, hurting people in this country.”

She added: “The airport is opening up in a matter of weeks. No one reached out to taxi drivers to see if we have the necessary tools to be able to operate.”

Waiting on information Briefly addressing taxi drivers concerns during her press conference, Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson said she recently met with the taxi association.

She acknowledged that residents are reeling from the pandemic lockdown measures and are in dire need of assistance.

“It is really disheartening to see people demonstrate for stimulus,” she said.

“There is absolutely no doubt in the Government’s mind that people are hurting. That’s why in this period we still allocated $15 million that we really can’t afford for those persons that are hurting.

“There are systems and policies that have been put in place that demonstrate how much we want to get these monies into people’s hands.”

She said the taxi drivers in particular met with her and she is still awaiting some information from them.

“It was probably about a week ago when those issues were raised at a meeting and I literally said to them, help me to help you by providing me with the information as to how widespread this is so that we can address the policies to get the money into your hand.”

Cartwright Robinson said she is currently waiting for the taxi drivers to meet with her again.

She explained that she asked the association to determine how many members did not receive their stimulus payment.

“So even while they’re demonstrating out there, I’m still waiting for information that is not tedious.

“Just to understand what is the position of the majority of their members as it relates to national insurance, as it relates to having a valid business licence so that we can tailor a policy as this Government has always been doing straight through to make sure they get their monies.”

However, Greene told the Weekly News that the premier has all the information she requested from the association at her fingertips.

“I think the premier was very disrespectful and dishonest in trying to make it seem like she’s waiting for information from taxi drivers.

“When she has access to the database - her office is above national insurance - she wanted to know who is registered with national insurance and who has business licence.”

Greene lamented that that information is lodged with the Revenue Control Department and Road Safety Department as well.

“Individuals just can’t walk up to these various departments and request that information.

“The traffic department has access to all taxi drivers, so that can be accessible to her.

“So this is a poor excuse that she made during her address and I’m very disappointed and it’s really sad.”

TCI citizens who work in the hospitality or tourism industry are entitled to a $1,200 pay out as part of the TCI Government’s economic stimulus programme.

So far more than 6,000 people have received the grant while thousands are yet to receive it.