TAXI operators who ply the Seaforth to Morant Bay route in St Thomas withdrew their services for a third day yesterday in protest over what they say is the deplorable state of the roads.

Since Monday, the taxi operators have parked their vehicles, leaving commuters stranded. Among those affected are students sitting Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exit exams.

Yesterday, the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica raised concern about the continued protests and called for “good sense to prevail on all sides and allow for the smooth flow of transportation allowing your children to sit the necessary examinations which in most cases cannot be resat”.

On Tuesday, President of the St Thomas Taxi Association Louis Millwood told the

Jamaica Observer that the bad roads are making it difficult for them to survive — a concern that was echoed by other protesting operators who staged a cookout in Seaforth.

“We can’t take this any more, and the operators are saying that they are not travelling on this road any more because of the condition. We are not taking any promises. We have gotten promises before,” Millwood told the

Observer.

“It is very disturbing to drive on this road in this condition… The Jamaica Constabulary Force is having a zero-tolerance with examiners and all of that. Come on, now! Would you send an examiner to test vehicles coming off these roads? They are having a zero-tolerance approach; I don’t have a problem with the law. We are having a zero-tolerance approach to get the roads fixed,” Millwood fumed.

The taxi operators yesterday said that they are tired of promises to fix the road and promised to continue their protest until it is fixed.

“I operate from Seaforth to Morant Bay every day and I can’t save no money on this road. From I started running taxi on this road it has been bad and I haven’t seen it get a proper fix from then until now. We are tired of it! We are out here demonstrating from yesterday (Monday) and we are not stopping until they start to fix the road. If it is even some good patching, we will work with that until better come,” said Glenton Telfer, a taxi operator for over 20 years.

“It is burning our pockets. It costs at least $40,000 to $50,000 to get the parts for the front end because the vehicle uses upper and lower control arm, tie rod and ball joint, the necessary things for the front end. You have to pay a mechanic another $15,000 to pull the front end down and get it sorted out. Him charge to pull down and put it back on; it cost a lot of money,” Telfer added, noting that he has to take his car to the mechanic every month.

“It is getting from bad to worse. We cyaan manage it any more. I just bought two tyres and the right hand tyre eat off clean, clean, and mi want ball joint again,” added Rasharn Richards, who has been operating on the route for three years.

Byron Beckford, a resident of Whitehall in the parish, complained that the documents for his vehicle were seized by the examiner last Friday, because his vehicle was found to be defective, which he blamed on the very bad road.

“Everything is dead; people cannot go a work, children cannot go to school,” Beckford said, referring to the strike.

Meanwhile, Sean Scott, another taxi operator, said a poor drainage system and lack of maintenance are the main reasons why the road is in the present state of disrepair..

Yesterday, efforts to get a timeline from the National Works Agency on when the road would be fixed were unsuccessful.