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Ocho Rios transport centre comes to life again
Police clampdown forces buses, taxis into park
BY ALESIA EDWARDS, Observer staff reporter alesiae@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, July 10, 2009
OCHO RIOS, St Ann - The Ocho Rios Police on Monday began a clamp down on public passenger vehicles parking illegally in the resort town, in their bid to force operators to use the transport centre and end the traffic nightmare in the area.
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| Life has returned to the Ocho Rios Transportation Centre following an operation by police to get all taxis and bus operators to use the facility. For several months, the centre resembled a ghost town after operators refused to use the facility and instead used neighbouring plazas, parking lots and gas stations as pickup and drop-off points. (Photo: Alesia Edwards) |
Approximately 60 traffic tickets, for various violations, were issued and seven vehicles seized on Monday, with commanding officer for the parish Superintendent Gary Griffiths warning that the police would not relent until the daily use of the park "becomes a norm for both commuters and operators".
"We are trying to convince the commuters to use the transport centre. and we are using enforcement in terms of issuing tickets to violators, using all the relevant laws to ensure that persons operate from the transport centre," said Superintendent Griffiths, adding that the police had in the past used other approaches, including moral suasion, to encourage use of the park.
Regarded as one of the largest transport centres across the island, the facility - which sits opposite the Ocho Rios police station -had remained almost empty daily while plazas, gas station and other areas became permanent drop-off and pickup points for taxis and buses.
Motorists and business operators have often complained about traffic congestion in the area, which they blamed on the unruly taxi and bus operators.
But on Monday, traffic - even during peak hours - flowed freely in the area as Superintendent Griffiths and his men took up strategic positions at problem spots in the area.
"This area where we are standing is a service station, there is no way that sensible human being should be using a service station as a means of getting transports. People can light cigarette, a lot of things can take place here and it's safety and security why we're trying to convince the public through moral suasion to use the terminus," said Griffiths, disclosing that similar operations would be undertaken in other major towns across the parish.
However, many taxi and bus operators who were forced to use the transport centre complained that the facility was, among other things, too small to accommodate the dozens of vehicles who transport people from the resort town.
Additionally, some were made to relive their worst nightmare after the ticketing system at the centre, a major source of concern, malfunctioned.
"They use to allow us to pay when we entering and that caused a pile-up of traffic yesterday, (Monday), but now they say we are to pay when we leaving and is over one hour me in the line and can't come out and people have to go to work," said Andrew Matthews, a taxi operator who claimed other motorists waited for approximately two hours before exiting the park.
He said the present ticketing system will have to be changed if operators are to conform to the rules and operate only from the park. Similar sentiments were echoed by other operators who blamed both the police and the parish council for not fully working out some complex issues before undertaking the operation.
"We don't have any shelters and some of the designated areas cannot hold all the taxis, a lot of drug addicts are inside the park and the ticket system just not working out, there is no lightening and just whole heap of things not right round here," another operator, who requested anonymity, told the Observer.
But Mayor of St Ann Ivan Anderson said he was aware of the problems being experienced by the operators and promised to "have some of them addressed in the shortest possible time."
".The ministry has approved six flood lights and I'm hoping to get them by next week and I'm talking with some corporate entities regarding assisting with some bus sheds," Anderson said, adding "our main problem right now is the drug addicts and the police are helping us with that".
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