LAST WEEK, interim chairman of the Association of Public Transport Operators, Morris Lee, pleaded with Government to reduce road taxes on public service vehicles (PSVs) until the roads were fixed.
Lee said the state of the roads “on every route” was literally “shackling” out the buses and appealed to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler.
It was also revealed that a private tour operator was considering dropping one of the more scenic routes in 2017 after writing repeatedly to complain about the “embarrassing state” of some roads.
Online readers also complained about the situation and road taxes.
• Asiba Buffalo: Never have the potholes been this bad. Every road I traverse is inundated with craters, trenches, wells and gullies. The ABC Highway, previously unpotholed, is now seriously affected. On Tudor Bridge just before the bakery is a very large crater in the road. Drivers, beware. Whitehall Main Road, from as early as Cave Hill right down to the junction at Codrington, is atrocious. Well Gap is an abomination and further up Lodge Hill, to its junction with Green Hill, is like a minefield in Aleppo in Syria or Mosul in Iraq, but the only thing exploding will be your tyres, CV joints, ball joints and suspension in general.
• Carolann Schwartz: All drivers need an ease on road tax until the roads are fixed, not only PSVs.
• Toni Layne: [They] shackling out cars too, not only buses. These roads are definitely a mess. I want that . . . when the prince visits, they take him through Thornbury Hill, Christ Church; Rising Sun, Christ Church; Collymore Rock, St Michael; just to name a few.
• Paul Mccathy: Go around and start planting flowers in the potholes, take pictures and put on Facebook.
• Advent Divers: If the potholes are the only solution to get these road hazards to slow down or go off the road all together, then I say, dig more.
• Kolieboi Danny: It is a nightmare; especially when it [is] raining.
• Adrian Allison: I’m not a lawyer, but I think a case can be brought by a citizens united group in a class action against the Government of Barbados for breach of contract. Road taxes are imposed on motorists for the reason of maintaining roadways. Government is clearly in breach.
• PB: A country can only maintain its infrastructure if it can collect its revenue. We have been sidestepping this debate for quite some time now. That $400 million that Government is owed should be vigorously collected at all costs. Where assets are available to be sold or levied, or where income can be garnished, pursue these options without delay. Many people believe that they can continually owe the Government money and get away with it, while still demanding all manner of Government services.
• Sherrylyn Toppin is THE NATION’s Online Editor.
