KINGSTON, Jamaica – The spokesman of the One Voice Taxi Association, the organisers of a planned three-day protest by cabbies against alleged unfair treatment by the government, says he is being stigmatised for speaking out against the authorities.

Lorraine “Ascar” Finikin said he has been accused of being an operative for the Opposition People’s National Party.

“I have never in my life and I repeat, I have never in my life met with any member of the People’s National Party, any minister of the People’s National Party, any Member of Parliament of the People’s National Party. We have never sat in a meeting. The closest I’ve come to any of them is when I went to Parliament two weeks ago; I was privileged to shake the hand of Mikael Phillips,” he told journalists at a media briefing on Monday.

Finikin had said that taxi operators from the One Voice Taxi Association will withdraw their services on Monday as they believe that the system has been treating them unfairly. However, the strike was not supported by some other taxi associations including the major Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services.

READ: WATCH: ‘Tired and fed up’ – One Voice taxi operators strike over ‘unfair’ treatment from Gov’t

And for this very reason, he said, a voice note was sent to the Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck alleging that he is working with the PNP.

“I have been stigmatised …. I’m an operative, but I’m an operative of the public transportation sector, which I decided to represent because they have been lacking in leadership, lacking transparency, lacking accountability. And I stand in that gap on their behalf and because of that, I have been set up as one of the worst persons in this country and it is that voice note why this room is not being filled today,” he added.