Truckers picketed outside media houses in Port-of-Spain yesterday, including the Guardian Building on St Vincent Street, to highlight the inefficiencies of the barge and ferry which replaced the Super Fast Galicia on the inter-island route.
Spokesman for the group, Samuel Applewhite, secretary of the Inter-island Trailers and Truckers’ Association, said the truckers’ losses are increasing every day and they are concerned about the security of their vehicles on the barge.
“After putting your vehicle on the boat you have to take the fast ferry to go to Tobago and that is unreliable. Most times you reach there and your truck is there long before you and you have problems getting it off,” he said.
“Some vehicles end up back in Trinidad because you are not there to take it off. When we used to make five trips a week we are now making two and one.”
According to Applewhite, additional costs are being incurred because truckers who don’t get on the fast ferry for the return trip have to pay at least $300 a night for a room.
“Apart from that you have to pay somebody else an additional cost to take off your vessel from Tobago and then to put it back on. We running at a loss right now,” he said.
Applewhite said the truckers’ repeated efforts to contact Works Minister Rohan Sinanan have been unsuccessful.
Joining the truckers in their protest was Michael Annisette president general of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers’ Trade Union (SWWTU) who said they had asked for the union’s intervention.
“Historically the truckers have been driving vehicles on and driving them off,” he said.
“They bring a vessel now that you have to drive on and leave your cargo on and then you have to go and see if you could get transport to go to Tobago. What is happening is given the volume of cargo—which is 100 truck spaces that used to go up to Tobago every day—you now find yourself in a situation where the barge can do only about 75 per cent of the volume.”
Annisette said another problem is that salt water is corroding vehicles because the barge is not designed for that type of transportation.
Contacted yesterday, Sinanan said he has no problem having discussions with the truckers. He said he spoke with the board of the Port Authority and was told the process to acquire a new vessel is going smoothly.
“I can say a new vessel would be here soon but I cannot commit to a definite timeline,” he said.
Sinanan said he understood the plight of the truckers.
“We are not doing anything that would purposely affect anyone negatively,” he said.
