Govt has not approved increases in public transportation fares – Minister Edghill

See full statement from the Ministry of Public Works:

The Government of Guyana has explicitly stated that it has neither approved nor sanctioned any increase in fares across all modes of public transportation, including minibuses, hire cars, speedboats, and airport taxis.

Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, who holds responsibility for the transport sector, strongly reiterated this position yesterday during a direct engagement with public transportation owners and operators at the Stabroek Market Square.

“𝑁𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑠, 𝑡𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠, 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝑁𝑜 𝐺𝑢𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛, 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑, 𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠,” 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑑𝑔ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑. “𝐹𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑛𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝐼𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠, 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.”

The high-level government panel also included Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Susan Rodrigues (who has oversight of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission); Director General of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), Captain Stephen Thomas; Traffic Chief and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mahendra Singh; and representatives from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

The public meeting was organized in response to growing reports of arbitrary fare increases by operators. The open forum allowed commuters to share their experiences and gave operators a platform to voice their concerns.

Minister Rodrigues reminded commuters that public transportation is classified as a public utility, and passengers are legally protected against price gouging.

“𝐴 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑈𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒,” 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑. “𝑊𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.”

Both Ministers highlighted that the government has continuously implemented cushions—such as removing fuel taxes, absorbing shipping cost increases, and slashing duties on key commodities—specifically to shield citizens and operators from global inflationary pressures. The government has warned that non-compliance will carry severe consequences.

Captain Stephen Thomas of MARAD underscored that operating licenses are a privilege, not a right, and are tied directly to regulatory compliance and passenger safety.

He revealed that strict penalties are already being enforced following incidents over the past weekend where passengers were left stranded at the Parika and Bartica stellings due to operators refusing to work for standard fares.

“𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟: 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑢𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠,” 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑. “𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑒𝑛𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠.”

While the Government maintains a strict stance against unauthorized fare hikes, it acknowledged the operational challenges raised by transport providers—specifically the rising and unregulated costs of vehicular spare parts. To address this, the government pledged to engage major importers and distributors of automotive parts to explore interventions that can lower overhead costs for operators.

Concluding the meeting, Minister Edghill issued a final directive;

𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔—𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒂𝒙𝒊𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒕𝒔—𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒗𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆.

The Government of Guyana remains committed to ensuring an affordable, safe, and equitable public transportation system that protects the livelihoods of operators while robustly safeguarding the pockets of the Guyanese public.