We just can't go on this way

THE EDITOR: The members of the public who depend on the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) for daily transportation have been constantly subjected to poor service. The one shining example is the Deluxe Coach Service. Despite recent challenges, it has been pretty consistent.

However, my specific complaint is the utterly poor service coming out of the Point Fortin depot. Sometimes, surprisingly, commuters get good service for a month. However, more often than not there is no 5 am, 6 am, 7 am or 8 am service. Getting a bus at any of these times is like playing Russian Roulette.

Commuters see the yard filled with buses and sometimes drivers are present. So, why can't the travelling public be better served? We have heard about malfunctioning buses, insufficient buses and absent drivers. Are these explanations genuine? If so, what is being done to rectify the situation? What are the managers and supervisors doing? Are proper reports being submitted to the PTSC management so that appropriate recommendations can be made for corrective action?

The late great calypsonian Explainer once said that "we just can’t go on this way." We certainly cannot. Taxpayers contribute towards the salaries of the workers at the PTSC. I have always maintained that those who are being paid to do a job must perform. So, if bus drivers are reporting to work daily and not driving the buses, action must be taken. We cannot continue to talk about a PTSC that does not serve the public.

If PTSC cannot fulfil its mandate to serve the public, we must question its continued existence. The idea that public servants cannot be easily fired or disciplined must be dismissed. If reform is necessary, it must take place as a matter of urgency. No country can truly progress where public servants are not providing the services expected of them by the public.

We must also bear in mind that the service provided by PTSC is heavily subsidised by the government in an environment of generally declining revenue.

My simple message is that to get an improved service we must have performing workers, buses, etc. We cannot continue paying public servants a salary for little or no work. As a citizen of TT, I can safely say that this problem exists in many other areas of the public service and it must be dealt with everywhere.

Another example of this kind of behaviour is the thousands of corporation workers who report to work at 6 am and are back home by 9 am. Action must be taken. And if those who can do so, via legislation, regulations, etc, fail, they will also be complicit in sinking TT.

We live in challenging economic times and citizens are struggling to provide for their families, including those same PTSC drivers at the Point Fortin depot. To quote Explainer once more, "we just can’t go on this way." If we do, this depot should be permanently closed rather than continuing to subject the public to this abuse.

Something has to give and action must be taken at the highest level.

IMO RAMESES BAKARI

via e-mail