After demonstration, mayor dispels rumours of bus park relocation
MAYOR of Spanish Town, Andrew Wheatley, has dispelled rumours that some transport operators will be relocated from the Spanish Town Bus Park on March Pen Road, saying rather that the parish council is making efforts to “regularise” the area.
Commuters were left stranded Saturday morning after taxi and bus operators withdrew their service following rumours that they would be relocated to ‘Redemption Ground’ on Oxford Road in the busy municipality.
“That is a totally incorrect assumption on the part of the persons demonstrating. There was a meeting between the council and the police Friday and coming out of that meeting were efforts to regularise the bus park. It is not a situation where we are trying to close down or move persons from the bus park,” Wheatley said.
“There are about 300 vehicles that use that park and if we are going to close it down, then we would have to find accommodation for all those vehicles, so it is a total misunderstanding,” added Wheatley.
Wheatley said that the parish council is working to bring the bus park under order, and that police presence will be boosted there in an effort to curtail extortion among other rampant criminality.
“The media like to refer to extortion and if that is there then we want the police to be on spot to deal with that as well as any other criminality,” he said.
Saturday, operators – some at the demand of their colleagues or grim-faced thugs – parked their vehicles and stood idly as confused commuters milled about the bus park.
One man was overheard at a section of the park telling a taxi-driver, “Hey bwoy just move from here so and mek sure you don’t take up anybody.”
According to Superintendent Assan Thompson, head of the St Catherine North Police Division, the demonstration was however, quickly controlled by officers on the scene.
He said that the operators resumed work shortly after they were addressed by Member of Parliament for South Central St Catherine, Sharon Hay Webster.
“Spanish Town is divided and the operators basically didn’t want to move to the other side to Redemption Ground, they are just fearful. But it is all just a misunderstanding, nothing was said about moving anybody to Redemption Ground,” Thompson said.
