Cabbies say brace for fare increase

Egerton Newman, president of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services, says commuters should brace themselves for a fare increase in the next few days.

This increase, he said, will stem from the deadly conflict between the USA, Israel and Iran. On Sunday, presidents of taxi operators' groups and cabbies met at the Half-Way Tree Primary School to discuss an outstanding 16 per cent increase as well as other mattres.

"In the next nine to 10 days, we could see some serious problems in relation to shipment [of petroleum] and that could affect us greatly. It is a double whopper because we should have applied for a fare increase from last year. The minister is supposed to speak to us on that matter next Wednesday as he wants to see what happens as it relates to the oil issue. So commuters must brace themselves for increased fare as it is not a question that fares will be increase...we must increase our fares," he said.

The price of oil continues to surge nearly two weeks after the US and Israel launched major attacks in Iran that escalated into a war in the Middle East. The conflict, in which nearly every country in the Middle East has sustained damage from missile or drone strikes, has left ships carrying approximately 20 million barrels of oil stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the gulf that is bordered by Iran. The disruption and key damage to gas and oil facilities in the Middle East has led to an interruption in the supply of petroleum industry.

Newman said taxi groups are unable to put a tab on what the increase will be as they are unaware of how high gas prices will be increased. Newman also implored hackney carriage operators (cabs for hire) to join a route, as failure to do so could see them getting in trouble with the police or transportation authority.

"This morning (Monday) there was a major operation in Half-Way Tree and this was something that we were discussing at the meeting. We know that hackney carriage should now transfer into a route taxi and some of the operators are not doing it and that is a problem," Newman said.

On Sunday, 16 transport operators were also awarded by their peers for their outstanding contribution to the field.