Government is to pay out $45,000 to underwrite costs incurred by taxis as a result of the National Heroes Day date switch.

Taxi drivers complained they had already paid to calibrate their meters in the knowledge that the holiday was going to take place in October.

After Culture Minister Dale Butler announced it was being rescheduled to June 15 last week, Bermuda Taxi Association said 600 taxis would have to pay an extra $75 each to calibrate for a second time.

At a press conference yesterday, Junior Transport Minister Marc Bean said: "Although the change in date for the holiday is good news for many Bermudians, there are sectors of the community that will need to make adjustments. One sector of the community is our taxi operators.

"On behalf of the Government of Bermuda, I am pleased to announce that the Ministry of Tourism and Transport will partner with the taxi industry to underwrite the cost of the re-calibration of the meters."

Sen. Bean confirmed Government would be footing the entire $45,000. Cash will be distributed via taxi despatching companies.

BTA president Gilbert Trott said: "Either we the industry would have been disadvantaged in terms of the meter rate, or the customers would have been disadvantaged.

"We were pleased that Government accepted our request. Sometimes they accept our requests, other times they don't."

Sen. Bean added: "I would like to remind the public of this Ministry's commitment to providing our visitors and residents with the best transportation services available. Our partnership with taxi operators is integral to ensuring that we can provide quality transportation.

"To that end it is our mission to ensure our taxi operators generate as much business as possible in Dockyard. Achieving this mission is also a balancing act as we must also ensure that at no time there is a short fall in adequate transportation for our visitors.

"We are sure that we can accomplish our goal with the assistance of our transportation coordinator in Dockyard and the taxi operators."