Tired of bearing the burden of extortion and the brutality of gangsters, route taxi drivers in Spanish Town say they will withdraw their service this morning to draw attention to their plight and in the hope that the authorities will act against the extortionists.

The drivers say they are being pressured and sometimes beaten by extortionists who operate near the Spanish Town Market at Young Street in the old capital.

"Dem walk with pick axe sticks and sometimes all eight of them beat you if you refuse to pay. Dem box up drivers, grab keys out of vehicles and make unreasonable demands. We can't take it no more," one taxi driver, who asked not be named, told the Observer yesterday.

"Don't care how old the driver is, you still get box and you eye fat up. Them throw all dirty water inside your car," the driver added.

The drivers say they pay two extortion fees daily to persons representing the rival One Order and Clansman gangs who operate at the market and the municipal bus park, respectively.

"It was $100 for extortion, but since December it raise to $150 at the bus park and we still pay $100 at the market," the driver said.

Extortion has long been identified by the police in Spanish Town as a multi-million dollar racket. The police have made repeated calls for persons who are being extorted to provide them with evidence.

But the drivers accuse the police of colluding with the extortionists.

"Don't care how near the police is, when the man a do dem ting, dem (the police), not doing nothing. Sometime the man dem switch off your car and say them impound yu vehicle and them same police friend get wrecker and tow it away," the driver alleged.

This morning's strike is expected to displace thousands of persons who commute between communities on the outskirts of Spanish Town.

Yesterday, Superintendent Terrence Bent, head of the St Catherine North police division, said the police were aware of the planned strike and had put in place measures to deal with any problems.