Government officials say there was “nothing unusual” about the time it took to process the first ride-sharing licence in the province — a licence that was suspended just two days after it was approved.
Redsea Riding got the green light on Jan. 17, with a news conference set to announce it that Friday, on the 19th.
But that was abruptly cancelled with officials telling media that Service NL Minister Sarah Stoodley was tied up in a cabinet meeting.
It wasn’t until the following Monday that VOCM first reported that Redsea Riding’s CEO, Yosief Tesfamicael, was facing a list of sex-related charges against minors.
That revelation led government to confirm Redsea’s licence had been suspended indefinitely due to “new information received.”
The Telegram has since reported it took just over a day to approve the application, which reportedly included standards copied from other ride-sharing companies.
But in a statement to VOCM, a spokesperson for the minister states “there was nothing unusual about the processing time in reviewing the application from Redsea Riding.”
“The service standard for all commercial motor registration transactions is two business days from receipt of a completed application,” read the statement. “However, like anything, there may be occasions when officials can process applications faster, and others when it may take longer.”
They go on to say the application met established criteria, noting policies here are very similar to those in other jurisdictions.
The spokesperson declined to provide more details, citing Tesfamicael’s ongoing criminal case.
The 43-year-old, originally from the African country of Eritrea, is facing five counts, including sexual assault, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, unlawfully making sexually explicit material available to a child and exposing his genitals.
The offences are alleged to have occurred between August of 2013 and May of 2021, shortly after his arrival in Canada.
The matter will be called in Supreme Court on Monday morning for a case management meeting that can’t be reported on.
That’s in advance of the trial which is scheduled for October.
