By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday 24th March 2022) — Bus drivers who operate from the College Street bus stop area in Basseterre are currently working with authorities to get their concerns addressed after the turning on of traffic lights on Tuesday 22nd March 2022 left them upset and confused, since no preparations were put in place by the Traffic Department for loading and offloading passengers, even though questions were asked “months” before. Vice President of the St. Peter’s Bus Association Devon Caines explained: “Yesterday, they came. We were forced to move up here and as you can see, no sort of preparations were made. You could say that we’re in the centre of the road. They didn’t notify us, no preparations were made. Yesterday they caught us off guard. We’ve been asking for months — when the lights turn on, where we going?”
Other bus drivers voiced similar frustrations. Bus driver Bob said: “The way they came yesterday, it wasn’t pleasing to us. They treated us like they think we are a set of animals. You know like when you have a bundle of sheep or goat in your garden and you run them out? That is how they treated us yesterday. We are very important in this place to the public so they have to come better than that.” As gathered, officials from the Transport Board, Transport Minister Lindsay Grant and the Traffic Department combined visited the area after the drivers created a public debate about the situation. Bus drivers were subsequently allowed to move closer to the original area of about 80 feet, while awaiting improvements and a proper bus stop facility.