Phillips slams Government’s JUTC deployment of buses

WESTERN BUREAU:

Mikael Phillips, the opposition spokesman on transport and mining, has criticised the steps being taken by the ruling Dr Andrew Holness-led Government with regard to the deployment of Jamaica Urban Transport Company (JUTC) resources across the country.

Phillips, who was addressing a People’s National Party (PNP) town hall meeting in Montego Bay, St James, yesterday, argued that the deployment of JUTC buses to areas such as St Mary could be effectively managed by public operators. He highlighted the importance of a more organised and efficient system to better support the public- transport sector and alleviate some of the burdens faced by commuters.

During the past two months, the JUTC has expanded its services into two rural parishes with the creation of two routes in St Thomas and one in St Mary.

“They’ve taken buses off the JUTC routes and sent them to St Mary, to St Thomas, and to places that you could approach the private investor like yourselves in filling those routes until they get more buses,” Phillips told attendees.

Phillips further argued that while commuters are benefiting from reduced transportation costs, a more structured approach should have been considered before deploying the buses.

The Government has been making significant investments to improve the JUTC fleet, including the procurement of 200 additional electric buses over the next three years, which is expected to bolster the bid to modernise the public transportation sector while providing a better experience for commuters.

Phillips also expressed his party’s disapproval of the Government’s decision to open up the market for hackney carriage licences, arguing that it is bound to be chaotic.

“And for them to be opening up back hackney carriage islandwide, it’s more political than sensible, coming down into an election,” said Phillips, pointing to the pending general elections, which are constitutionally due by September this year.

“That, for me, is an abuse of power by the minister [Daryl Vaz] and the Transport Authority,” said Phillips in noting that when the PNP returns to state power, the Transport Authority would end the enforcement powers it now has.

“When we get back into power, a lot of what they are doing, we not only have to revamp the whole public-transport sector, but the Transport Authority needs to come back to its core function, which is not enforcement, but to regulate the sector itself,” said Phillips.

12 NEW BUSES

In August, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz added 12 JUTC buses, which are all said to be less than a year old, to the Montego Bay Metro Bus Company Limited.

Those buses have brought the MBMBC fleet to 18, resulting in them providing transportation services to Bethel Town and Savannah-la-Mar in Westmoreland; Sandy Bay, and Lucea in Hanover, and John’s Hall in St James.

The addition of new routes has left transport operators like Andre Montaque, a taxi operator from St James, fuming, while pleading with Phillips to do something to defend the livelihoods of public-transport operators.

Montaque also took aim at the recent 35 per cent fare increase, which was granted in October of 2023, and was to be implemented over two periods as a sure recipe to make taxi operators poorer because the last portion has yet to be granted.

On March 15, 2023, commuters started to pay a 19 per cent increase on taxi fares and were bracing for a further 16 per cent last April before it was deferred in a deal struck with the operators and the Government.

According to Montaque, this hardship is heightened as a result of poor road conditions, high gas prices, and the Government now directly competing with taxi operators in western Jamaica.

“Currently, our competitor is also the Government because now we have these big yellow buses (JUTC) that are going into the communities,” said Montaque.

As for the continuous delay in delivering on the second portion of the fare increase for public-transport operators, Montaque accused the Government of allowing investors to lose out on their investments.

“Last year, when we had a discussion about the fare increase, they said April 1. For whatever reasons, they didn’t honour that promise. They found excuses, but in the same breath, they sent a lot of yellow buses that started to come on the road,” he added.

editorial@gleanerjm.com