Faced with court action for non-payment of membership fees for GPS service, a Bermudian taxi owner has called for the eradication of committal warrants for incarceration for debt.Barclay Carmichael was contacted by a court bailiff in May and ordered to cough up $700 or face 14 days in prison.He paid up and summoned back before the Civil Court last week to face court orders to pay another $1,300 bill in arrears.The total owed is $4,600 dating back five years owed to BTA (Dispatchers) Ltd.Following talks with the company’s lawyer, Christopher Swan, he agreed to pay $200 a week to clear the backlog starting August 16.In an exclusive interview, Mr Carmichael said like others he installed the equipment because it was mandatory.That changed just before the December election when the former administration announced it was voluntary.The new administration pledged to make a final decision, but eight months later, that decision has yet to be made.Mr Carmichael said the only reason he kept the unit on board for re-licensing in January was because taxis were not being passed by TCD without it.“I don’t have a problem with debt, but I don’t think I should be threatened with jail and made out to be a criminal over a civil matter.“This is not the time to be dragging people through a court system for debt with the economy the way it is and showing very little signs of improvement.”Based on the number of people in court last week he said it was clear that he is not alone.“We’re required to pay $150 a month, annually, it cost me $3,000 just to get my taxi licenced and insured alone.“During the off season months you would be very fortunate to make $100 a day.“Even with the cruise ships here the pickings are slim and the tours are few and far between.”With so many people out of work he said it’s time to “remove the threat of jail for non-payment of bills from Bermuda’s law books”.“The committal warrant is a weapon that they use against you, it says pay up or else,” said Mr Carmichael.“It means don’t worry about your light bill, food, or your other commitments. It makes ordinary, hardworking, honest people criminals.“I wasn’t able to predict that the Grandeur of the Seas was going to catch on fire and not come to Bermuda or know the weather was going to bad last week and no one was going to go to the beach.“And I don’t know if we’re going to have a hurricane in September either, that’s the nature of the business.“Things are so tight right now that when I leave home mornings the only thing that’s on in my house is the refrigerator.“This season and the past few are the worst I’ve seen in this business,” he said.“Something’s got to give before we end up with even more serious social problems in this country,” he said.“If the courts were to send everyone in default on payments to jail today there wouldn’t be enough room to house them.“It’s only going to get worse if things continue the way they are now,” he added.“When the cruise ships leave in November there will no large numbers of tourists in Bermuda.“And we all know The Breakaway passengers are not big spenders, they’re ordinary people who only know about Horseshoe Bay when they get here.”With all the talk about “shared sacrifice” he said it’s time for Bermuda’s debt collection agencies to “follow suit”.“Things out here are worse than what people think. I’ve seen women with children at the cashier stand who don’t have enough money to pay for goods.“I see people coming to the gas station putting $5 in coins in their gas tanks, robbing piggy banks to get where they have to go. I hear it daily from passengers, I’ve been a Dr Phil on wheels,” he said.“I see people with a sense of no hope, people grappling with how they ended up in the position they’re in when they’ve never been without a job.“I’ve seen people pull their children out of private school to enrol them in the public system. People are stressed to the limit.“There are ladies who I worked with at BTC who were made whose redundancy packages are down to nothing, with no prospects of a job because of their age.“I’ve been made redundant, not once, but twice, in 1998 and again in 2005, in today’s economic climate it’s the new normal.“My payroll tax and house insurance bills are in arrears; I’ve sent letters to explain my situation. And after Labour Day the peak season is over,” he said.Like others feeling the pinch, the last thing he said he needs is to feel the threat of imprisonment for debt.“Incarceration won’t get my bills paid,” said Mr Carmichael.The bottom line he said: “When I have the money I will pay, if I don’t have the money I cannot pay; it’s as simple as that.”“This outdated system only pushes people further out onto the streets to do stupid things because of debt.”