Truckers call on Rowley

The Inter-Island Truckers and Traders Association yesterday held a meeting at the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union’s (SWWTU) Hall on Wrightson Road in Port-of- Spain, to discuss issues surrounding the barge which together with another vessel, was acquired by Government to replace the Superfast Galicia which stopped servicing the seabridge several weeks ago.

President of the association Hollis Ameed, said the cost of transporting goods to Tobago on the Atlantic Provider has reduced members’ revenue by 40 percent.

He said if nothing is done to better accommodate truckers by way of a more suitable vessel, they will stop hauling goods to Tobago altogether.

“The problems with transporting goods from Trinidad to Tobago are getting more and more dramatic with each passing day,” Ameed said. “There are trucks in Tobago for four days that cannot get back. There were trucks in Trinidad since Tuesday last that could not go up until yesterday (Saturday), and the expenses continue to increase.

Ameed said that truckers using the barge have to purchase a ticket, but are still put on stand by.

Truckers have to go to the docks on a daily basis, to see if their vehicles would be transported at any given time. With delays stretching into days, the truckers yesterday sarcastically praised the State for expeditiously ensuring that golf carts reached Tobago on time for the Prime Minister’s Charity Golf tournament which was held on Saturday.

Truckers said that while trucks laden with goods, hardware items, bags of cement, blocks, sand etc. were parked at the port, priority was given to those trucks that were transporting the golf carts. “The system works if there is a will. You see how seamless the system worked to get those golf carts to Tobago and on time? Yet look at all the trucks parked up at the port idling for days with goods waiting to be transported to Tobago,” said a trucker.

Ameed said a major problem with this barge is that because of its design, it cannot accommodate passengers, so after drivers park their trucks on board, they have to incur added cost to seek alternative transport to Tobago either by the other seabridge vessel or by plane. “And this, together with the delays, are cutting into our revenue,” he added.

He also complained that the low sides of the barge whose design is similar to that of a flatbed truck, allows spray from the ocean to soak the cargo which includes bag of cement and steel.