Dear Editor,

It is full time the Government of Jamaica puts in some strict regulations for taxi operators in this country. For too long taxi operators, and minibuses too, are allowed to just do as they please. It is a free-for-all.

We cannot also expect the police to be the only ones to apply the laws under the Road Traffic Act and believe this will cause them to fall in line and stay within the law.

Our taxi operators have become involved in criminal acts such as robberies, as they are at times used as getaway cars, abduction and rape. Our women, oftentimes our young girls, are being abducted and raped by taxi operators, or criminals posing as such, and not only are they raped, but murdered too.

This must stop!

Here are my suggestions for the Ministry of Transport, Tax Administration Jamaica, and the police.

1. Taxi operators in each parish need to have a specific colour on their motor vehicle along with the chequered strip on each side in black.

2. Each taxi must have on the public passenger licence (red plate).

3. Each operator should have an ID displayed in their motor vehicle.

4. Each operator should wear a uniformed top that could says, for example, “Taxi Operator: St James” with a logo from the ministry. The ministry could organise where these can be purchased.

5. Each operator should be issued a taxi operator’s licence for one year and a copy of this should be displayed in their motor vehicle. This could be administered through the tax office and this would allow them to have a database for easy tracing.

I am sure there are many more suggestions that others may have. And I am sure some of these already exist. But they must be enforced with zero tolerance.

Let’s keep the communication going and make our voices heard while we put forward our solutions to the crime problem.

We all need to work together for the betterment of our country and its citizens.

ECeacsalesdotcom@gmail.com