By George Henry, Gleaner WriterSPALDINGS, Clarendon:
SENATOR KERN Spencer, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, says taxi association members will have to assist the police in the fight against crime.
Addressing members of the Spaldings Christiana Taxi Association at the official launch of that group, at the Spaldings United Church Hall recently, Mr. Spencer said the 13,000-strong membership of taxi associations across Jamaica, will be a force to be reckoned with, and with the organised manner in which they should be conducting their business, they would be in a good position to liaise with the police in the fight against crime.
"The police officers will have to be liaising on a contact basis with taxi operators, because the truth be told, I have said constantly within the Ministry of National Security that the present crime fighting cannot be dependent only on the Ministry of National Security, it cannot be only on the Jamaica Constabu-lary Force. We have to mobilise the entire country in the fight against crime and violence. And if we have thirteen thousand persons who will abide by the law, I believe that the associations can assist significantly in reducing the crime rate," said the Senator.
Mr. Spencer noted that over recent months, the police have been engaged in a number of spot checks on the island's road network, checking documents among other things, in an effort to frustrate criminals and drug traffickers who have been capitalising on the much improved roadways while they move around the country to do wrongs.
LAWBREAKERS
He stated that as taxi operators carry out their business of transporting people, they should ensure that they do not get smeared with the lawbreakers. Mr. Spencer explained that, just as how taxi operators want to do their job better, the police also want to do the same and that they (taxi operators) should ensure that all their documents are in order.
He said taxi operators who abide by the laws have nothing to worry about and called on them to do so. He said if they do this they would not have to be harassed by the lawmen.
Mr. Spencer called on the taxi operators to take care of the children on the road and seek to be very careful while they transport passengers. He stated that at the end of last month figures showed that some 70 persons met their death on the road, due to motor vehicle accidents, and that the figure during last year showed that 358 persons died in traffic accidents and that 33 per cent of the figure were passengers.
He stated that figures released by the Traffic Analysis Unit at the Ministry of Transport recently, showed that 13 per cent of that number were children.
National Association of Taxi Operators (NATO) General Secretary Edgerton Newman also called on taxi operators to exercise road courtesy. "I don't want to attend a funeral of a young child or anybody at all because of a taxi driver. So I urge you to be careful on the road."
Mr. Newman made it clear that NATO would not speak for those taxi operators who refuse to obey the law and stated that his organisation would only speak for those taxi operators who 'toe the white line'.
UNIFORM
He called on operators to ensure that they acquire their proper uniform by the 19th of this month and that their vehicles are affixed with their association's logos by that date.
Member of Parliament for North West Clarendon, Richard Azan, commended the taxi operators on their uniform and called on them to continue to be smartly dressed while they carry out their work.
Mr. Azan, like all those who spoke at the function, implored the taxi operators to be serious about their job and to take good care of their passengers. He called on them to be responsible and take care of the children as well as their investment. He encouraged taxi operators to save while they earn.
He said members of the association should act mannerly to those whom they serve and that they should not be afraid to reprimand those of their colleagues who operate contrary to the rules of the association and the Road Traffic Act. That way Mr. Azan said would only ensure that taxi operators act properly.
President of the Spaldings Christiana Taxi Association Herbert Freckleton, also urged his colleagues to treat their work seriously, as the service they offer is a vital one. Mr. Freckleton stated that of the 190 taxi operators who work from the town of Spaldings, over 120 registered with the Spaldings Christiana Taxi Association up to last week.
