The Maxi Taxi School Transport Concessionaires of Trinidad, which provides daily transport to thousands of primary and secondary students across the country, is threatening to take the Education Ministry to court for an outstanding $20 million owed to them.
The threat was made yesterday by the association’s president Rodney Ramlogan, as scores of placard-bearing drivers protested outside the ministry’s south office, threatening if they are not paid by the end of this week they would be heading to court.
“This is what they have brought it down to. Our time for scrapping the bottom of the barrel is over. If we are not paid by the end of this week we will be heading to court early next week,” Ramlogan warned.
“You are asking us to provide a service to students for this new term and we are still awaiting our monies for last term. We can’t financially do this anymore. The drivers have not been able to service their loans, pay their mortgages and maintain their families. This is overbearing now,” Ramlogan said.
He said three times the current Government increased diesel prices which they have been absorbing, insisting that they could no longer operate with the old fares paid by the ministry.
In going forward, Ramlogan said they intend to put forward new rates, when they next meet with the ministry.
However, Education Minister Anthony Garcia, in a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian, said he was hopeful that the drivers will receive their payments next week.
Garcia said while March bills were paid, payments for April and May were still outstanding, as they were being processed.
He said the ministry was yet to receive July’s invoices from the Public Transport Service Corporation.
“We have already permission from the Finance Ministry to make the cheques payable once we have completed that exercise. I can’t put my head on a block, but I am reasonably certain that by next week all the outstanding bills will be paid,” Garcia assured.
The 300 drivers who are owed for the periods April to July have been providing transport to over 32,000 primary and secondary students.
They were promised to be paid by September 14, which they claimed was not fulfilled, as they only received one payment of $1.7 million on Monday.
Ramlogan claims he is owed $75,000.
Having withheld their transport services in the last few days, Ramlogan said this has resulted in many students not being able to attend classes.
“I would estimate that at least two thirds of the students we transport have been affected,” Ramlogan said.
This was, however, refuted by Garcia who stated based on the information received, “the extent of absenteeism on the part of the students is not much.”
Today, (Thursday) Ramlogan said they will deliver a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair and stage a protest outside the ministry’s head office, Port-of-Spain, with parents and students to get swift action.
Ramlogan said in 2015 they protested against then People’s Partnership government over failure of payments as well.
“So nobody could say we have a political agenda. It has nothing to do with politics. All we are asking for is what is rightfully due to us.”