est. 2007

Barbados Underground

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Time To Stop The Damn Folishness!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. BU understands what is being demonstrated in the video is the symptom. After two years in office the current government, supported by an impotent police force, has been unable to regulate the PSV sector. The current chaos in the sector exposes a lack of political will…

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. BU understands what is being demonstrated in the video is the symptom. After two years in office the current government, supported by an impotent police force, has been unable to regulate the PSV sector. The current chaos in the sector exposes a lack of political will and leadership.  The sector as it has been for awhile continues to operate out of control.

In the video several observations are visible. The minibus is overcrowded, loud music is playing, the driver seems not to be driving with due care and attention…

Bear in mind the government of Barbados has introduced free travel on the public transportation service for all school children up to 18. We are told the economic benefit is significant for many families as a result. We also know it is an attempt to extract our young minds from a negative sub-culture before it is too late.

It is time for our politicians to do what is damn right!

38 responses to “Time To Stop The Damn Folishness!”

  1. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    “impotent police force” Hmmm.. Dey very potent when it comes to ambushing ordinary citizens for the smallest traffic offence to have them face a magistrate and a hefty $500 – $1000 fine. (Operation Road Order Maintenance my ass)

    Also bear in mind that a number of police folk as well as Parliamentarian Kenny Best are well established in the transportation trade.

  2. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    THis tape can’t be used as evidence… in a real court doh?

  3. Love Avatar
    Love

    By George….Mia Mottley just lost the leadership of the BLP to that Pain in the backside from St. Andrew.

    Owen voted for himself and Duguid.

  4. black taylor with the axe Avatar
    black taylor with the axe

    y it can’t be used in COURT in Barbados …What Crap is that u telling me? I had a tape of a NCC woman Slandering a boat operator at sandy Beach Worthing in 2007 and I played it for NCC Chieh and Ombudsman and a Lawyer an Indian Woman lawyer and a CBC reporter and they would not touch my case ,, they say the NCC is government !! What crap country is Barbados ? Corrupt Liars and Murderers … They will reep what they sew!!! Violence fill ya city yeah ha!!!

  5. Crossroads Avatar
    Crossroads

    David have u seen the video circulating on facebook of the young school girl from C&P being beaten by a couple of boys in the road? check it out, its disgusting to say the least. I would hope the police check in to that as well.

  6. David Avatar
    David

    Have note seen it.

  7. GoWEB Avatar
    GoWEB

    I want to get my hands on it. Evidence has a way of dis-appearing in Barbados.

  8. Is Hooliganism On The Rise Among Our Youth? « Barbados Underground

    […] an earlier blog mention was made of a video of school children making the rounds where they are beating the hell […]

  9. David Avatar
    David

    The Sunday Sun lead story has to do with Minister Boyce’s response to this video. It appears the minibus belongs to Morris Lee who is part of the leadership of the various PSV associations now and before. According to the report the video was filmed by a trailing ZR. Barbadians are tired of the talk Minister the time has come to name and shame.

    WILD RIDE

    Published on: 11/1/2009.

    by PHILLIPPE AIMEY

    AN ONLINE VIDEO highlighting bad behaviour by secondary school students on board a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) has angered Minister of Transport and Works John Boyce. Boyce told the SUNDAY SUN yesterday that Government would be getting tougher and clamping down the indiscipline, and thus he has launched an investigation into the incident. The minister said he wanted to be sure that the bad behaviour on this packed minibus did not take placesince the introduction of free school fares on Transport Board buses. "The video has been brought to my attention and we are currently investigating the matter to get the specific details, but it generally speaks to the level of indiscipline within the PSV sector," Boyce said. "As a Government we have made the conscious decision to recover this young generation and whatever steps have to be taken will be taken to bring discipline to the transport service and bring this situation under control." The video making its way around the Internet shows a minibus speeding down Barbarees Hill towards The City with loud music playing and students aboard beating the roof, while standing in seats and "wukking up". The SUNDAY SUN tried unsuccessfully to contact the owner of the bus, however Morris Lee, president of the Association of Public Transport Operators, said the incident occurred last year, before the formation of his organisation and before Government’s introduction of free bus fares for schoolchildren. The video, he said, was shot by a fellow conductor trailing behind in a route taxi (ZR). "The minister did express concern to me personally about the content of this video. I was happy to inform him that the incident took place on the last day of school before the summer vacation in 2008, since I had already launched my own investigation. "At that time, the association was not formed nor was the free bus fare programme implemented," Lee said. Lee said however that despitethe timeline the behaviour was not justified and spoke to the larger issue of behaviour by students across the board, although the problem had been significantly reduced since the free bus fare programme. "With the introduction of free bus fares we have seen a significant fall-off in the number of children usingthe service. "We support the law in the administration of music on PSVs where we are fully aware that pre-recorded music is illegal, therefore the operators who use music should do so within the ambit of playing just a radio and whatever the radio plays is what we’ll subscribe to," Lee said. He also said although there was no music on Transport Board buses, there was still misconduct by students. He urged all operators within the industry to "step up to the plate", and spoke of the opportunities created in the transport sector since the Transport Board’s change of schedule in some areas. "The Transport Board has started to withdraw their hourly service meaning that they are slowly reducing their involvement in public transport at this time. I see this as a chance for the private owners to step up to the plate in terms of the quality service they are providing. If we can demonstrate to Government that we can manage our business in a way that is acceptable to the community, they will eventually want to partner with us to ease some of the burden they are carrying, especially in the form of a multi-million dollar subsidy each year," Lee said.

  10. anonymous Avatar
    anonymous

    he must think dat he did drivin d fire truck

  11. Passer By Avatar
    Passer By

    What does a fire truck have to do with this?

  12. road user Avatar
    road user

    minibus driver was driving like as though he was driving the fire truck fast &wild .looks like he may be a fireman . ah;;;ahah ;;;;;

  13. Passer By Avatar
    Passer By

    I wonder where u getting this info from. fireman driving a mini bus. stupse.

  14. road user Avatar
    road user

    minibus is owned by the fireman . may be he was the driver at that time . driving with the same way as though he was driving the fire truck . wasn’t he was driving the same vehicle last year and indirectly involve in to smash-up where life was lost in st.james ?

  15. road user Avatar
    road user

    what is wrong with this minibus driver to drive the vehicle like this . can someone tell me who is the owner .

  16. passenger Avatar
    passenger

    what is wrong with this minibus driver to drive the vehicle like this . can someone tell me who is the owner .

  17. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Mr. Kenny Best, Member of Parliament for St. Michael East

  18. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @BAFBFP: (with regard to B37): “Mr. Kenny Best, Member of Parliament for St. Michael East

    A *very* interesting alleged data point.

    Let me please ask: Is there any way that the Public can determine who owns a vehicle with a B[n] or a ZR[n] license plate?

    (n being defined as a numerical value.)

  19. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Sure Chris, call Kenny at his office on Hinks Street and beg fah a lil’ excuse…hah!

  20. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @BAFBFP… That’s not what I asked.

    Again, I asked: “Is there any way that the Public can determine who owns a vehicle with a B[n] or a ZR[n] license plate?

    Unless I’ve misunderstood your answer….

  21. road user Avatar
    road user

    call licensing authority to get info about who owns B & ZRS . just give them the registration numbers .

  22. passenger Avatar
    passenger

    i am a regular passenger in that bus . bus is leave home in the morning from josey hill . owner is be driving the morning trip most of the time . he is not kenny best nor morris lee .

  23. bus owner Avatar
    bus owner

    packer is the owner .so. packer pack the bus

  24. Keith Headley Avatar
    Keith Headley

    @Chris Halsall

    Without some sort of legal documentation – there is no “right way” to find out.

    If you know some one of course . . .

  25. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @Mr. Headley: “If you know some one of course . . .

    But such knowledge would have been illegally gained, and thus inadmissible….

  26. Keith Headley Avatar
    Keith Headley

    @Mr. Halsall

    Very true. It has been my experience that the only way to find this for legal proceedings (as opposed to you just wanting to know who owns a van) is to convince a Judge that there is enough of a case for the right type of warrant to be issued.

    Otherwise you’re stuck . .

  27. bus owner Avatar
    bus owner

    every p s v has owners . it’s easy to check with transport authority . they do keep record . so my brother . let it die relax . as everyone know the owner

  28. David Avatar
    David

    Any reaction to the Attorney General’s statement today that owners of PSVs may risk suspension of their licenses if repeated infractions of the law continues by their drivers. BU family member Inkwell provided an insight into the problem as he read it back when.

  29. Passer By Avatar
    Passer By

    A Fireman was not driving the bus.

  30. passenger Avatar
    passenger

    but fireman owned the bus . & do know who was his driver . i can’t remember who is the real owner . but one of them brother is drive really bad on the road .

  31. april Avatar
    april

    STUPID BAJANS!! SMH

  32. kera Avatar
    kera

    The owner of the minibus wasnt driving

  33. Theo Avatar
    Theo

    On only thing wrong here is the Amount of retarded school kids in the van. there is nothing wrong with the driving. i’m your complain about how the van is leaning please take in mind that the van is designed to do that, it’s called “body roll”. the vehicle is suppose to transfer weight to the outside wheels when in a turn to maintain contact with the road for better grip. the only things wrong is the driver carelessly overloading van and the amount of black smoke being created. There sound be a law in barbados which putts all those black smokers off the road until van owners correct the problem, but i guess or government will do that until they notice respiratory problem on the rise.

  34. David Avatar
    David

    @Theo

    The factor you have left out is that it is not designed to body roll in an ‘overload’ state.

  35. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    But wait, this video was taken in the last decade … The vans look different today HA HA HA

  36. michael Avatar
    michael

    To all you who stated that that road hog might have thought that he was driving a fire truck,,,,, that’s a lie,,,There are laws to which the operators of such vehicles MUST abide….and the preservation of life (, theirs and other road users) is at the top of the list,,,reckless disregard of the safety laws is nor permitted,as was so blatantly displayed in the film

  37. BajanCanadian Avatar
    BajanCanadian

    I agree that SOME minibuses and SOME ZR vans do drive overly aggressively and that there may be somewhat of a negative culture. Children under the age of majority need to be shielded from this culture all together, and drivers, no matter who the passenger need to drive accordind to the law. HOWEVER, type Barbados Bus in Youtube, and you will find numerous tourist videos of rides on mostly what they call “reggae bus[es]”. They are a very popular ‘tourist attraction’, these videos are posted by young AND senior aged tourists. Like it or not, as far as tourists are concerned, these “reggae buses” are an exciting part of the Barbados experience, so perhaps Bajans need to compromise, find a middle ground. Allow drivers/operators to dress up their bus however they want, and play whatever music they want, as long as they are not populating their bus in a dangerous way, or endangering themselves and others with poor driving habits. Barbados could be the poorer for completely abolishing the Minibus/ZR van culture.

  38. shane bowen Avatar
    shane bowen

    Hard ta believe DAT van still pon due road yuh.Still look hard doh

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