A former Setar Department-Head made his way, via Arubus to Aruparking & Arutram as the new director of the mother company and its two problematic daughters.
I understand that in an upcoming press conference the new director Edwin Mohamed, who has been in place since May, will be introducing changes pertaining all three companies.
As far as Arubus the news is good, 15 new buses from Brazil, in August, then a few more in September.
The useless Chinese-made buses, purchased during the former administration will be retired.
When you buy ‘cheap,’ you end up paying dear!
I also hope they start running more minibuses in secondary routes, and stop running the big ones, empty!
Aruparking will spend about one-and-a half months on a campaign in which it will attempt to teach us a new set of rules: Parking close to main street has a price tag; parking further away is free.
The merchants on the main street will be happier when rules are restored and parking is again available, at a modest price. Right now, employees park in all prime locations and clients must walk.
If you recall, Aruparking was introduced with an iron fist in 2016.
Then during the dying phase of the AVP campaign in 2017, clamping was lifted, and in one fell swoop, the 18 months spent on educating the public to park and pay, went down the toilet.
Paying for parking became on option, a suggestion, not a must.
Offenders could no longer be clamped, you got a yellow sticker, which most drivers promptly removed.
BUT, a new age is coming: Parking must be paid for from 9am to 3pm, Sunday is free, Saturday you pay, business as usual, 9am to 3pm.
I went to the company’s FB to find out how much, and whether we are allowed to park in yellow spots on weekend, but did not find the info because the last update was from November 2018.
That’s unfortunate, no wonder clients lost respect for the system.
But changes are coming, and an updated FB page, with it.
Talking about Arutram, apparently, while costing an arm and a leg, client satisfaction is high. The world’s most expensive tram system shuttles 16.000 visitors a month, from the cruise ship terminal down main street.
