Minibus operators in the Corporate Area are upset with the actions of the Transport Ministry, accusing Minister Mike Henry of blatant double standards by allowing tinted Jamaica Urban Transport Company (JUTC) buses to carry passengers.

The disgruntled operators charge that new, heavily tinted JUTC buses now on the roads run contrary to the law, which was forcibly used against them earlier in the year.

“Five months ago the ministry said it was against the law for public passenger vehicles to operate with tints,” a discontented bus operator argued.

“That same ministry has now sent out about 50 JUTC buses with dark midnight tint,” he added, while requesting anonymity.

Bus operators said that they are unwilling to give their names for fear of being victimised by the police.

Up to press time yesterday, Auto did not receive a response from the JUTC or Transport Ministry on the issue.

In the past, repeated reports have highlighted obscene behaviour, especially from schoolchildren, who use the dark-tinted minibuses as a cover to indulge in sexual activity.

In an effort to clean up the system, the transport ministry embarked on a drive to remove tints and loud, lewd music, a widespread feature in the vehicles, commonly called ‘Coaster’ buses.

According to the operators, when the transport ministry instituted their clean-up drive, the police immediately removed licence plates from offending vehicles.

“They did not give us any warning, they just came and took off the plates, telling us that we were in violation of the Road Traffic Act,” an operator told Auto this week. “Police and examiners just stop us and take off our plates.”

Bus operators said they were then told to get the tints removed from the vehicles before they could resume operation.

The operators added that as a result they had to pay a fee of $3,500 to the tax office and a further $7,000 to the examination depot to have the vehicles checked before receiving the go-ahead to operate, after the tint was removed.

“We have complied with the law but the JUTC is now above the law,” commented one irate minibus driver.

“If it is against the law to operate with tinted windows, then it should be for everyone,’ he added.

Defending their position, the upset operators contend that the tinting is necessary to ease the load on air conditioning units when a bus is full.

“The tints take the pressure off the AC and keep the bus cooler when you have it packed with people,” a minibus driver said.

One operator, who also requested anonymity, admitted that others within his fraternity indulged in or allowed lewd behaviour on buses.

The operator, however, disassociated himself from such immoral acts saying that his bus was used for transportion only.

PHOTO: JUTC tinted bus

CAPTION: A heavily tinted JUTC bus on the road in the Corporate Area.