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Two of the minibus operators during their demonstration on Monday.
Two of the minibus operators during their demonstration on Monday.
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Minibus operators serving the Green Hill-Kingstown route have decided to call off their strike action after meeting yesterday, Monday, with the Ministry of Works.

Rohan Scott, a spokesperson for the omnibus operators, told iWitness News that they were able to meet with Minister of Transportation and Works, Sen. Julian Francis.

“He promised us that our problem with the road condition would be dealt with starting next Monday,” Scott said, adding that as a result of that promise, minibus operators would begin offering their service again on Wednesday,” Scott said.

“We are satisfied that the Mr. Francis made the effort to address the problem,” Scott said, but noted that some minibus operators wanted to continue to withhold their service until they see work in progress.

The service providers were able to secure a meeting with the works minister on the first day of what they had planned as a three-day strike.

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Scott told iWitness News they had decided to take this action because the Ministry of Transportation and the Roads, Bridges and General Services Authority had not responded to a letter sent to them two weeks ago about the condition of the roads.

Scott said that the roads in the Central Kingstown community are “very deplorable”.

“Right now, we are spending a lot of money in terms of maintaining the vans. We are basically fed up,” he told iWitness News on Sunday.

He said that omnibus operators have to be constantly changing their vehicles, changing shocks, ball joints and bushings.

5 replies on “Green Hill buses call off strike after talks with minister”

  1. Every minibus in every community should declare a strike!!! Result? All of the roads will be fixed!!
    Wish it was that simple.

  2. diplomacy always the best policy …….as long as it results in positive action . which the gov. previously did give a time table to have repairs commence plus allocated funds to do so .

  3. roads in SVG are not engineered and constructed proper ……..im no expert but i think they should be constructed on a graveled elevated based with slopes on both sides to prevent water from settling which eventually produces pot holes. plus roads must be supplemented with drainage to take away excess water . So maybe the gov needs to change their usual contractors and engineers . its more expensive in the long run

  4. For years we have complained about the conditions of the roads in SVG. Since the government never noticed this shows that they are not listening, they don’t care about that or they just don’t know how to tackle the problem.
    If the government prioritize maintaining this vital infrastructure, I’m sure that they can get it done. Besides fixing the potholes they should be placing protective railings at the steep cliffs along the roadsides.
    Everything in SVG has been so badly managed for so long it has now become near impossible to fix.
    Doing these things not only lifts the standard of living in the country but it is also economically advantageous.
    (They built a super expensive airport so they can fix the roads too. Too bad that their top priority is fighting the opposition and keeping themselves in power.)
    Looking at the beautiful children of SVG it’s painful to see the mess that they will inherit from us if we do nothing.

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