The TT Taxi Drivers Association is warning commuters of protests and a drastic increase in taxi faresif the fuel subsidy is removed.
Speaking at a Conversations with the Prime Minister on March 8, Dr Rowley said the population cannot be insulated from worldwide changes in the price of oil, and the cost of maintaining the fuel subsidy has become prohibitive.
During a press conference at the Macaulay Community Centre on Tuesday, the association’s president Adrian Acosta warned the PM that the suggestion “has brought a lot of anxiety to taxi drivers.”
Acosta said, “That move that the prime minister is going to make will be very detrimental to us and we want to say today that if that move is made, we as taxi drivers will have no choice but to do some adjustment to our fares. We will not – at no point in time – be taking that burden on our shoulders.
"Some of the calculations we have done is amazing (and) at the end of the day, it will be taking away a substantial amount of money from our pockets on a daily basis.”
Pointing out that taxi drivers have already suffered considerable losses since the start of the pandemic owing to successive restrictions on capacity limits, Acosta reiterated, “At no point in time taxi drivers will be carrying the burden of the fuel subsidy removal.
“We have done our part through this pandemic and we have lost a lot of money. We have now come out of that two-year drought and we are now looking to get back on our feet with the 100 per cent (passenger capacity).
“For the government to now come, at any point in time, and take away this fuel subsidy, it will have a very negative impact on us.”
[caption id="attachment_944880" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Assistant Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Taxi Drivers Association David G Mack speaks during a media briefing at the Macaulay Community Centre on Tuesday. - Photo by Marvin Hamilton[/caption]
Apart from an increase in fares, Acosta cautioned the PM to "think wisely "about the decision because the association will mobilise stakeholders to take a stand.
Because the decision will affect everyone, Acosta said the association will invite “the whole of TT” to take a stand.
“When that time comes, we’ll be calling on every citizen of this country to let the Government know that we are not in support of the removal of any fuel subsidy. We have taken four beatings already and the Minister of Finance came out and said there were no riots and he laughed.
"We will not be rioting, but we will be making a stand.”
While Acosta acknowledges the factors leading to a worldwide increase in oil prices, he called on the PM to find different ways to generate additional revenue for the country.
But Acosta said a rise in gas prices will just be one more burden for taxi drivers to carry as he pleaded with the PM to “assist us in the bad roads that we have.
“We have a pitch lake in this country (but) throughout the Caribbean – as I’ve heard – there are a lot of better roads. We have the resources in this country to have our roads in
