Release ‘Out A Road’
MoBay cabbies vow to keep protesting until strike organiser is freed
MONTEGO BAY, St James —Taxi drivers on the Cornwall Courts and Salt Spring routes in Montego Bay have vowed to sta
y off the job until one of their peers is released from police custody. The man, known as ‘Out A Road’, has been credited with organising Monday’s strike in the western city, part of planned disruptions across several parishes.
Out A Road is a popular social media vlogger.
“He implemented a thing and him voice a thing and we were here supporting him. If you lock him up and him at the station we can’t go in and leave him out there to batter, so we’re not changing until he comes out,” one taxi operator, who goes by the moniker Military, declared to the Jamaica Observer.
“A him push us to come out here. If we go home and leave him to be in the jail by himself then it means we never mean him no good in the first place,“ he added.
The taxi operators are adamant that they will extend their withdrawal of service until the end of the week if Out A Road is not freed.
“If him in there, it won’t stop,” Military said as others nodded in agreement.
According to a police source, a man matching their description of Out A Road was taken into custody on Monday and is being interviewed after allegedly making threats against Prime Minister Andrew Holness. The Observer was unable to ascertain the nature of the threats but the cop who spoke on condition of anonymity stressed that no charges had been laid against the man.
On Monday, Out A Road’s colleagues warned commuters to make other arrangements as they were serious about staying off the job.
Like their peers in other sections of the country, they complained that the demerit system is unfair. Military described it as draconian.
“Imagine, you get three tickets and you lose your licence for six months?” he questioned.
They are also of the view that they are being penalised twice for one infraction.
“How we pay the fines and still have the demerits?” asked a cabbie who goes by the name Prime Time.
“Before this, when you go before the judge you would get the points taken off but now three tickets — well even one — and you can see you licence suspended for up to three months,” he continued.
Other grouses include a decision not to go ahead with a planned fare increase and the spiralling costs they face.
“We have to do so much with Jamaica, why are you treating us so bad?” Military asked.
