TEATT Minister outlines various complaints of permit extortion

GREAT BAY--Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Grisha Heyliger-Marten has revealed disturbing complaints from taxi and bus operators who say they were forced to pay thousands of dollars in cash to secure public transportation permits that should have been issued through normal government procedures.

During her presentation to Parliament on the state of the public transportation sector (see related story), the minister shared anonymized WhatsApp messages from operators who reported being asked to pay between 2,500 and 6,000 dollars for licenses. The complaints, presented as “Person A” and “Person B” in her slides, formed part of a wider public message on transparency, integrity and trust.

In one case, a long-serving taxi operator told the minister he had “lost money” because his assistant driver said he could not pay the regular daily fee. The driver instead had to meet with a third party to pay 6,000 dollars for a taxi permit.

Another complainant wrote that his chauffeur had paid 6,000 dollars for a bus permit through a middleman. The chauffeur’s cousin, who could not afford that amount, was told he could pay 4,500 dollars instead. As election time approached, the alleged fixer repeatedly lowered the “price”, first to 4,500 dollars, then again to 2,500 dollars.

“It really sounds like someone is taking advantage of people who just want to work and get their permits the right way,” the complainant said in the message, adding that it felt like fraud for anyone to be paying “under the table” for something that should be done officially.

Minister Heyliger-Marten said these types of complaints helped confirm that reform of the sector is urgent and non-negotiable. (The rest of her presentation is in our other coverage)

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