Benque taxi operators call off proposed road block

Traffic on one of the nation’s major highways would have been blocked if the one hundred and fifty plus taxi operators from Benque Viejo did not get their way. For days, they complained that some San Ignacio taxi operators were not adhering to the rotation system in place at the border. This meant that San Ignacio taxis were cutting into the commerce of Benque taxi operators. But when the head of the San Ignacio’s Traffic Unit imposed stiff regulations for the Benque taxis, the men planned to block the highway at mile seventy-one. But that plan was called off according to Chairman of the Maya Line Taxi Association in Benque Viejo, Jose Guerra, because at the end of a meeting this afternoon there was a compromise.

Jose Guerra, Chairman, Maya Line Taxi Association (via phone)
“The original problem was that San Ignacio taxis, they were coming to the border. When they come to the border, they wanted to drop their passengers and then pick up passengers at the border to take them to san Ignacio. But they don’t realize that at the border they go by turns. We have to hand keys—if I have number twelve or number fifteen, I have to wait ‘til those people go in front of me then I can park my vehicle to wait for passengers. And that’s what they were not realizing. They thought that it was Benque that was doing that but its not Benque, it’s the Border Management Agency that is doing that—they are the ones who control the border. And then one of the problems was that a taxi driver from San Ignacio came to the border bout I think it was last, this past Tuesday and he dropped his passengers and he picked up two passengers at the border. And the traffic from the Border Management, one of their workers, approached him and he told him that he is not supposed to do that giving him a warning—he never took the passengers out of the vehicle. He went to tell Miss Fernandez a lot of lies about Benque, about Benque taxis and then Miss Fernandez ordered her wardens to begin to issue tickets to us and to take out passengers that are in San Ignacio that are coming to Benque or the border—to take them out of the vehicle and give them to San Ignacio taxis. In the meeting this afternoon, we went to see Minister Contreras first, we went to his office and one of the secretaries for Mister Contreras called Nicholas Wade, the mayor from Benque. And the mayor from Benque said that in ten minutes we would have a meeting at the town hall. So we went there to the town hall and the major from Benque told us that he is with us one hundred and ten percent. But that he needs to get in touch and have a meeting with the mayor from San Ignacio and Miss Fernandez before we do anything out of hand. So when they came to the meeting, we told her the concerns that we have and what we are planning to do. We give her by three o’clock. We told her if by three we cannot arrange nothing; then we will have the road blocked on the Western Highway. Well, Miss Fernandez said ok that she will talk to her wardens—that they won’t be bothering Benque taxis again and next Tuesday she will be giving copies to us, the presidents, to give to our members that the transport officers from San Ignacio won’t be bugging taxis from Benque.”

Guerra says if things fall through over the weekend the Benque taxi operators will meet again to plan what course of action they will take.