Commuters need better service from minivans

EDITOR: The services of minivans are imperative to the economy. On a daily basis, they transport school children, persons who are employed, elderly, tourist, to their destination. The drivers of minivans have a lot of lives in their hands as they traverse on their journey daily. However, a lot of drivers and conductors are reckless and unprofessional with the services they offer.

Very early in the morning and in the afternoon, you enter some minivans and the conductor would fill the seat with passengers where he is supposed to be sitting and sometimes telling you to “small up”. Some of these conductors would be wearing a vest, the hair under their armpit is long and thick like a “polar bear”, they don’t shower or use deodorant and their arm is in your face because there is no seat for them to sit. The roads in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are very narrow and some minivan drivers want to turn these roads into a formula one race track. Have a look at the statistics for 2023 and the results are alarming with the amount of minivans that got into an accident. Can you envision a family or close friend dying from this reckless driving?

Minivans recently got a raise, however, a lot of minivan drivers want to leave you half way on your journey and expect you to pay full price. Half way journey should be half pay. The loud music is a serious problem in these minivans. You enter these minivans and the bass from the music would be rattling the windows and your chest. Leaving these minivans, would give you a migraine headache or you might go deaf. The loud music and speeding is sometimes used as a marketing strategy to attract school children and to attract as many women in their life. Some conductors and minivan drivers can also be seen drinking beers and Guinness while transporting passengers. I remember couple years ago, there was a popular traffic police whose nickname was “gold teeth”. Gold teeth use to hide behind poles and in bushes to catch the perpetrators breaking the traffic rules. He was hated by many, but he use to get his job done. I think in the Traffic Department, we need more gold teeth. The greatest rapper of all time, Tupac Shakur has a song name “all eyes on me”. All eyes need to be on minivans.

Kimani Wiseman