Jetzt geht es den fahrenden Discos an den Kragen:
Published on: 4/1/08. (aus der "Barbados-Nation")
by Katrina Bend
LOUD, VULGAR music blaring in public service vehicles (PSVs) and disrupting the minds of schoolchildren may soon be a thing of the past.
Minibuses and ZR vans are not dancehalls, says Wismar Greaves, managing director of Insurance Corporation of Barbados Ltd. (ICBL), and any modified radio sets found on the vehicles would be taken out upon renewal of licences.
Greaves, whose company is one of the leading insurer of minibuses, said his agency had just started renewing licences and some PSVs would lose their insurance coverage because of the presence of enhanced audio equipment, whose sound could often be heard from nearly half-mile away.
"We do not feel that minibuses and ZRs are a dancehall, and we have taken the position that all the sets which play loud music must be taken out of these vans. Some of them will lose their cover.
"There are too many small children in Barbados who travel on these buses who are not in a mood to learn when they reach their destinations," Greaves said.
One source said, however, that while the removal of sets was certain, he could not give a time period for their actual removal or how many PSVs would be affected.
Major problem
Transport Inspector at the Licensing Authority, David Kirton, said radio sets in PSVs had developed into a major problem in his department.
He said that operators took out the radio sets before going for inspection or for insurance, but reinstalled them once everything was completed.
"All minibuses and ZRs have a set. That's the problem we have [and] they compete with each other in the music," Kirton said.
PSVs are inspected once a year at a cost of $45.
Licensing Officer Hal Atherley said there were 211 minibuses and 289 ZR vehicles now on the road.
