The stricter police controls outside the harbour reported on in today’s paper come none too soon. The cruise season is already well underway and the habit of all types of vendors crowding the exit to
aggressively offer their products and services as passengers come out on foot has increasingly become a nuisance, to say the least.
In this case the focus was on so-called gypsy drivers. Not only is their presence often disturbing, but they are taking bread from the mouths of legitimate taxi operators who, after all, applied for and bought licences.
Moreover, they pay a fee via their respective associations to be able to operate at the terminal and are, of course, under the supervision of the Public Transport Department. In addition, regular taxi drivers are taxed on their income.
The gypsies, on the other hand, are not bound by these limitations or any regulations such as the Government-approved maximum tariffs for fixed distances. The competition they provide is therefore by definition unfair.
Some claim the gypsy drivers have a right of existence because buses don’t go into the districts and people who can’t walk that far are almost forced to make use of them. There may be something to be said for such reasoning, but this in principle has nothing to do with trying to pick up visitors on routes that are widely covered by taxis. On occasion it has even gotten to the point where the port’s entrance was blocked.
It is indeed high time for something be done against these disruptive practices at one of the island’s two main gateways for its guests. That is in the best interest of the taxi drivers, but also the island’s tourism economy and thus ultimately the general public.
