Linden mother of three among 18 ‘best minibus drivers’

By Isanella Patoir

Donna Peters of Linden, Region Ten, has been driving to support her three children for over 30 years. On Wednesday, she was among the 18 drivers who were recognised and awarded across the country for displaying professionalism on the job.

As the lone female minibus driver to be awarded, Peters said she still continues to transport school children in Linden.

“I have been transporting school children in Linden as the first minibus driver for Linden and I am proud of doing my job from 06:30 in the morning to 6 in the evening.

“I went into the business because at the time it was needed,” Peters told the News Room at the Best Minibus Driver award ceremony held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

It was her job as a minibus driver, which helped her children to become a nurse, a teacher and a mechanic. Peters is urging all drivers to “just follow the safety rules and just look out for the children.”

In observance of national road safety week, the Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with the National Road Safety Council held a ‘best driver’ competition where over 100 minibus drivers participated from the ten administrative regions.

Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn delivered remarks at the ceremony and called on minibus drivers to make the change and reinvent the culture of minibus drivers. Minibus drivers are often stigmatised as reckless road users.

The Minister explained that recklessness on the roadways is not only fatal but also lead to lifelong injuries, loss of income and damage to vehicles.

He said the competition was intended to “stimulate better behaviour, greater awareness and a better culture.”

“One of our criticisms in respect of minibus operators is that errant minibus operators define the culture on the roads and so we thought that we had to identify those minibus operators who are a great example of what proper road usage should be,” the Minister said.

The other ‘best driver’ winners include Dexter King from Region One; Ricardo Chester from Region Two; Inderjeet Latchman from Region Three, Daniel Ramcharran from Region Four; John Karpen from Region Five; Kuldip Paray from Region Six; Keith Blair from Region Seven; Ian Gonsalves from Region Eight; Thomas Hamilton from Region Nine; and Leslie Jarvis from Region Ten.

The requirements for the competition included that their vehicle fitness was in order along with driver’s license and insurance.