Days after a taxi operator was shot and killed along the Thompson Pen main road in St Catherine, a number of his colleagues are still expressing concern about their safety.

Dwayne Owens, also known as 'Brown Man', of Mount Moreland district, Sligoville, St Catherine, was killed on Monday. The Spanish Town police reported that residents of Thompson Pen called them about 5:50 a.m after explosions were heard.

Stopped working

When they arrived, the taxi operator was found slumped over the steering wheel of a Toyota Corolla. The body had multiple gunshot wounds.

"We are now left to wonder a who next. This is really sad. It is clear now that none of us safe. Even a few weeks ago them shot up a taxi with passengers on board," remarked one taxi driver.

Following the news of Owens' demise, scores of operators stopped working as they claimed that respect was not being shown to them.

When THE STAR contacted head of the Portmore Taxi Association, Witclif Addison, he said that taxi operators needed to be more vigilant.

"At this time the operators of public passenger vehicles need to be vigilant on the streets as it has become very dangerous,'' Addison said.

SOURCE: http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20090326/news/news3.html