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Sex for lunch money
Taxi chief admits cabbies' 'preference' for schoolers By VAUGHN DAVIS Observer staff reporter
Monday, December 31, 2007
Jamaican taxi operators have been warned to stop having sex with schoolgirls, apparently in exchange for favours including lunch money.
General Secretary Raymond Gabbidon of the umbrella National Association of Taxi Operators (NATO) admitted that some cabbies had been having sex with schoolgirls and urged them to end the activity.
"I can tell you it is a fact. It is rampant in the industry, where taxi men seem to have a preference for the little schoolers," Gabbidon said in an interview with the Observer.
"We know you're subsidising a lot of school lunches and what have you, but that cannot be the justification for this sort of thing," he cautioned taxi men.
"We have been telling them, and we will be putting it in the training that not only is this against the law but it is against the proper development of society," declared Gabbidon.
His remarks to the Observer came against reports of sexual misconduct and drug abuse, among other anti-social behaviour by taxi operators across the island. NATO represents 1,900 registered operators but has no control over the large number of illegal taxi operators.
In response to the reports, some NATO members recently completed a six-month training programme, facilitated by the HEART Trust NTA Enterprise-Based Training Division and aimed at improving their sexual attitudes towards their passengers and at transforming the image of the taxi operating industry in Jamaica, said Gabbidon.
The training included instructions on the issue of drug abuse, also said to be a problem among taxi operators
"We are also aware that it is rampant in the industry that one of the favourite pastimes (of some taxi men) is to pull off the road and go get yourself high on something, or even drive while under the influence," the NATO general secretary disclosed.
"We don't need the minister to tell us we need to clean up the industry. We have to clean up the industry and we have started. We have to move the industry from this sort of hustling mode to that of a fully-fledged service industry," Gabbidon said.
"We are hoping to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding between NATO and the HEART Trust Enterprise-Based Training Division with the objective of training all operators who are affiliated to NATO," Gabbidon added.
"It (the recent pilot programme) was very successful, hence our decision to create a formal arrangement with HEART," said an upbeat Gabbidon.
He recalled that the training was initially undertaken as the taxi operators sought to participate in the Cricket World Cup earlier this year, but midway through the training sessions NATO saw the long-term value of the training and decided to seek a more formal arrangement with HEART.
The areas of training to be included in the programme are customer service, personal development and hygiene, communication skills, professionalism, conflict resolution, time and stress management, basic traffic laws, male/female responsibility and safe sex.
Taxi chief admits cabbies' 'preference' for schoolers By VAUGHN DAVIS Observer staff reporter
Monday, December 31, 2007
Jamaican taxi operators have been warned to stop having sex with schoolgirls, apparently in exchange for favours including lunch money.
General Secretary Raymond Gabbidon of the umbrella National Association of Taxi Operators (NATO) admitted that some cabbies had been having sex with schoolgirls and urged them to end the activity.
"I can tell you it is a fact. It is rampant in the industry, where taxi men seem to have a preference for the little schoolers," Gabbidon said in an interview with the Observer.
"We know you're subsidising a lot of school lunches and what have you, but that cannot be the justification for this sort of thing," he cautioned taxi men.
"We have been telling them, and we will be putting it in the training that not only is this against the law but it is against the proper development of society," declared Gabbidon.
His remarks to the Observer came against reports of sexual misconduct and drug abuse, among other anti-social behaviour by taxi operators across the island. NATO represents 1,900 registered operators but has no control over the large number of illegal taxi operators.
In response to the reports, some NATO members recently completed a six-month training programme, facilitated by the HEART Trust NTA Enterprise-Based Training Division and aimed at improving their sexual attitudes towards their passengers and at transforming the image of the taxi operating industry in Jamaica, said Gabbidon.
The training included instructions on the issue of drug abuse, also said to be a problem among taxi operators
"We are also aware that it is rampant in the industry that one of the favourite pastimes (of some taxi men) is to pull off the road and go get yourself high on something, or even drive while under the influence," the NATO general secretary disclosed.
"We don't need the minister to tell us we need to clean up the industry. We have to clean up the industry and we have started. We have to move the industry from this sort of hustling mode to that of a fully-fledged service industry," Gabbidon said.
"We are hoping to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding between NATO and the HEART Trust Enterprise-Based Training Division with the objective of training all operators who are affiliated to NATO," Gabbidon added.
"It (the recent pilot programme) was very successful, hence our decision to create a formal arrangement with HEART," said an upbeat Gabbidon.
He recalled that the training was initially undertaken as the taxi operators sought to participate in the Cricket World Cup earlier this year, but midway through the training sessions NATO saw the long-term value of the training and decided to seek a more formal arrangement with HEART.
The areas of training to be included in the programme are customer service, personal development and hygiene, communication skills, professionalism, conflict resolution, time and stress management, basic traffic laws, male/female responsibility and safe sex.
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