Following days of striking by operators and owners of omnibuses across the island, in protest of the protocols put in place which require the omnibuses to carry no more than fifty percent of their capacity, a meeting had been scheduled between the Government and the Vincentian Transportation Association (VINTAS), to see how best burden of adhering to the new protocol can be alleviated by the Government.
Two areas of compromise were reached following the meeting, the first of which includes the continuation of the sanitization of the omnibuses. The second is a temporary economic subsidy that is expected to be no less that the last subsidy provided by the Government to omnibus operators and owners as a part of its COVID-19 response last year. The exact amount of this subsidy will be determined by the end of the week and be relayed to the association.
The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister Dr. Hon. Ralph Gonsalves, Minister of Urban Development Hon. Julian Francis and Superintendent John, the head Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force’s Traffic Department.
