Government is moving quickly to purchase a parcel of privately owned land they have valued at $1.5 million for Chaguanas maxi taxi drivers.
This was disclosed by Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz yesterday, hours after Route Three (green band) maxi taxi drivers parked up their vehicles and staged an all-day protest at the stand on a side road opposite Mid Centre Mall in Chaguanas.
They were served with an eviction notice by the land owner who has given them until June 6 to vacate the premises they have been occupying as a maxi taxi stand for 15 years.
The drivers are also resisting any plan to relocate them and insist they will accept nothing less at the moment than more time to stay on the spot.
Hours after they began the protest, Cadiz told the Guardian that the parcel of land had been valued at $1.5 million and negotiations with the owner had begun.
“The owner has not agreed to this price. He said the land is valued more.”
Well-placed sources said the owner was asking for more than $4.5 million for the land.
Cadiz said the Government had also asked the land owner to extend the eviction notice until the end of July to allow negotiations to continue.
The move came soon after Port-of-Spain Mayor Gopaul Boodan visited the maxi taxi drivers on the stand. Boodan assured them the situation would be rectified soon.
The maxi taxi operators said they transported thousands of people from Chaguanas to Port-of-Spain and San Fernando and back and if they didn’t work commuters would be stranded.
Cadiz said, however, there were no reports that their protest had had any major impact on commuters.
He said the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) was instructed to ensure that every affected route was properly serviced.
There were no crowds of stranded commuters in Chaguanas yesterday morning and evening. Regular taxi drivers and PH cars were out in full force.
One taxi driver said a lot of people stayed home, as well, when they heard of the protest.