PORTMORE community leaders are demanding that no application for increase of toll rates along the Portmore leg of Highway 2000, which opened last July, be considered before 24 months of operation.

The leaders, in a statement, were responding to the recent confirmation by TransJamaican Highway CEO Trevor Jackson that his company had applied to the toll regulator for an increase in the current toll rates, which range from $60 to $200.

Jackson’s application for an increase is in accordance with the terms of the road operating agreement which gives TransJamaican Highway the option to apply for a review of toll rates every six months.

But in a petition being prepared to be sent to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Portmore residents have asked that a 24-month freeze be put on any review of the current toll rates. In fact, residents want the prime minister to lower the toll rates, which community leaders said have been burdensome for motorists leaving and entering the dormitory community at least five days per week.

According to the community leaders, the possibility of increased toll rates has incensed residents who have had to be enduring long delays on the toll road due to bottlenecks at the exit on to Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston.

Residents voiced their anger during the public signing of the petition at several locations across Portmore last Saturday. More than 2,000 persons signed the document.

Public signing of the toll petition will take place again this Saturday at the Lion Civic Centre at Edgewater in Portmore from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm, followed by a rally at the same venue.