Dear Editor
As a taxi driver of 15 years in St Vincent (SVG), while the government is touting about 377 cruise calls to the island, most calls to the mainland are small ships carrying 100 to 300 passengers, with about 7 carrying 100 to 900 passengers.
The small vessels, like the large ones, already have agents, and with large buses being used, there are simply not enough jobs for us.
Editor, a cursory look at the first draft of the list of port calls shows Kingstown will receive 116 of that number; about 13 ships are carrying over 2000 passengers, while there are about 31 ships calling with 380 passengers, some carrying a minuscule number of 32. Yes, 32.
If you take another look at the list, Coreas is the agent for 56 of those calls, and we know what happens there. The smaller vessels also have agents, so you know where that leaves us. Don’t get me wrong, ships must have agents, but the touting of so many cruise calls is not reflecting numbers; hence, we are left to struggle to make a dollar.
Editor, I believe that the ministry of tourism needs to negotiate with larger ships; two could dock at the cruise berth and one could be berthed near the harbor, where visitors can come off. It happens elsewhere, but I know what they are going to say: we don’t have space to dock, and taxi men are ungrateful.
Bequia will receive 100, Union Island (UI) 28, Mayreau 67, Tobago Cays (TC) 61, and Canouan 5.
The taxi drivers are also trying to wrap their heads around the recent announcement of concessions for importing vehicles. It is a good idea, but the majority won’t benefit.
When you really look at it, how many of us can import 2022 vehicles? It’s just impossible. I certainly was not in any consultation when these things were fleshed out.
Earlier this month, Minister of Tourism Carlos James said taxi drivers and tour operators wishing to import vehicles up to a year old would enjoy a 100% duty-free concession, while taxi drivers and tour operators would earn a 75% duty-free concession on vehicles two to three years old, and vehicles four to six years old would receive a 50% duty-free concession, but with another slow cruise season, it’s hard to tell who would be utilizing this concession.
Taxi Man of 15 Years
