A controversial new vehicle tracking system will spark a severe cash crisis for the Bermuda taxi industry if it is rolled out in its current fragmented format, a senior figure has claimed.

Junior DeSilva was one of the major supporters of hi-tech Global Positioning Systems (GPS) getting installed in cabs when the idea was first mooted.

He backed the idea of one single central dispatch system for all drivers ? and said that was the way forward because of expensive set-up costs.

The deadline for installation of GPS ? which aims to improve waiting times by sending the nearest cab to customers ? is now only weeks away after years of standoffs between drivers, angry about costs and intrusion, and Government, keen to streamline the Island?s taxi system. But now it looks like there will be three companies battling to provide the monitoring service to 600 cabs ? and veteran driver Mr. DeSilva said he fears the worst for the industry.

?It seems to me that the numbers do not add up,? he told The format has changed and there?s going to be people who go broke. We need to have one central dispatch otherwise there?s going to be financial loss for a lot of people and it will derail the taxi industry.?

He said many drivers were not speaking out against the controversial GPS system for fear of being ?victimised? by Government.

?I?m a supporter of Transport Minister Ewart Brown but I disagree with the way GPS is going.?

Mr. DeSilva raised his concerns at a recent update meeting on GPS at the Bermuda Industrial Union. Three companies now look set to provide the service, as the February 6 deadline for all cabs to have GPS looms. They are: BTA (Dispatching) Ltd, Radio Cabs and an amalgamation including Bermuda Central Dispatching Corporation (BCDC) and Co-Op Taxis.

He said that the cost of setting up a central dispatch ? replacing the 50-year-old radio system ? would be more than $1 million, with infrastructure costs alone totalling up to $250,000.

Cab equipment will cost drivers between $850 and $1,000, it has been reported. And there was a call this week from Opposition politicians and Radio Cabs for the deadline to be extended into the summer season, when drivers have more cash.

But Government stood firm on the February 6 date, although Mr. DeSilva, who has been in the industry for 36 years and is a GPS consultant for the BCDC grouping, said many hard-up cabbies will struggle to afford the equipment.

?It?s OK for Government to say ?buy it!?, but some drivers are taking home $10 a day and 40 per cent have got second jobs in the construction field,? he said. ?Some have even applied for social assistance.?

He said a deadline extension might not be necessary, but admitted he was in favour of sitting down with Government and looking at a way forward to help ease the plight of taxi drivers.

Mike Ray, president of the BTA Dispatching (Ltd), yesterday predicted GPS problems and said that one of the three new dispatch companies was going to go to the wall.

?It makes all the sense in the world to have just one,? he added. ?Somebody is going to fail, but it?s not going to be us.?

He said the Bermuda Taxi Association, which he currently leads, had tried to negotiate a single dispatch set-up before talks broke down over costs.

Mr. Wray, responding to criticism from Mr. DeSilva about his dual roles heading BTA (Dispatching) Ltd and the Taxi Association, also revealed he would be resigning as president of the Association soon.

He added that its constitution stated he could not remain in that position and also be director of the new dispatch company.