MINISTER of Transport, Works and Housing Dr Omar Davies will open the 2013/14 Sectoral Debate in Parliament this afternoon.

Opposition Spokesman on Transport, Works and Infrastructure Development Karl Samuda will speak in the debate following the minister. Government back-bencher Andre Hylton (Eastern St Andrew) is also scheduled to speak.

Dr Davies will be opening the sectoral debate for the second consecutive year since the current administration took office in January 2012.

Last year, he focused on the newly introduced Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) and land transportation. But while there were some positive pronouncements about JEEP, there was little to cheer about the virtually chaotic land transportation system, especially the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), which ended up with a loss of $1.8 billion at the end of the year.

Davies admitted in a recent Standing Finance Committee meeting that the JUTC cannot continue to operate without a fare increase. However, he said that the Government did not think that it would be wise to increase fares at this time. This afternoon he is expected to explain how the Government is expected to balance those challenges, and what will be done to restore “the rule of law” to the public transport sector.

He is also expected to update Parliament on the three mega projects he inherited from the previous government, including the North South Highway 2000 link and the expansion and development of Kingston as a transshipment port.