The Bermuda Industrial Union will act as the "cohesive'' voice for the taxi industry in the new year.

Transport Minister Ewart Brown announced in a Christmas Eve Press conference that "the stage had been set'' for the BIU to be officially recognised as the lead organisation to represent the needs and concerns of taxi owners and operators.

The venture, which has been in the works since last September, was spearheaded by Dr. Brown, BIU president Derrick Burgess and special advisor on the industry and Government MP Elvin James.

Dr. Brown said: "When I took over the Ministry of Transport last year, one of my priorities was to find a way to bring the many groups within the taxi industry together under one body.'' Stressing that such an "important'' industry should have the benefit of "one voice'', the Minister explained Government was set to recognise the BIU as the organisation to be that voice.

"In the coming months we will be taking all the appropriate measures to formalise the relationship between the taxi industry and the BIU,'' he added.

Dr. Brown explained that the taxi industry now had "more than 600 state-of-the-art drivers and 3,000 vehicles''.

"I am convinced that they must function as a cohesive group and speak with one voice,'' Dr. Brown said. "They deserve organised, dedicated representation such as the BIU can provide and I am confident this will be a relationship that will benefit the industry and the public on the whole.'' Asked if there were any taxi groups who were not falling into line with this proposed partnership, he said: "I would expect them all to be coming on board with this. It's a wonderful opportunity and I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to.'' Dr. Brown listed one of the possible benefits to the bond as being the introduction of a central dispatching system, which would allow Government to keep tabs on where vehicles are located around the Island at any time of the day or night.

He also said he felt competitiveness in the taxi industry would remain as healthy as ever, noting "Bermudians will compete with each other whatever happens''.

And asked what benefits he foresaw, Mr. Burgess said: "I think it will just allow the industry to move forward as one stronger body with numerous benefits coming out of the partnership for the drivers, the owners and the travelling public.'' He emphasised that the BIU was not interested in obtaining a stranglehold on the industry, saying: "We don't want to have the power to shut the Island down, but just want the country to prosper as a whole.

"We don't anticipate a challenge-free environment and we plan to meet challenges as a cohesive, unified body. We've taken the plunge on this so that the industry can move forward through time without anyone getting left behind.'' Dr. Ewart Brown TRANSPORTATION TRA