EVERALD Warmington admitted yesterday that he had made a “slip” in Parliament Wednesday, regarding the Jamaica Urban Transit Company’s (JUTC’s) exclusive use of the Mandela Highway bus lane.

“I meant ‘intended to’, and I did say intended, correcting myself,” Warmington, the minister of state in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, told the Jamaica Observer.

A replay of the recording of his presentation in the House of Representatives on Wednesday had him stating: “Starting immediately, we will be discontinuing (noise)…We will be discontinuing the exclusive bus lane. We intend, Mr Speaker, to discontinue the exclusive bus lane that was created on the westbound carriageway in the morning.”

Warmington also added that his ministry had done a review of the situation and found that it was causing much inconvenience to road users. He added that, going forward, the road would be used according to how it was designed.

The National Works Agency (NWA), which falls under Warmington’s road and works portfolios, has been complaining for several years that the bus lane has been creating traffic jams for people travelling outside the JUTC bus service. However, the JUTC, which had introduced the bus lane under the previous Government, insists that the lane helps its passengers to get to their destinations much more quickly, as well as boost the cash-strapped bus company’s revenues.

In a comment on the issue yesterday, Transport Minister Mike Henry disclosed that Warmington had written him about the traffic issues related to the bus lane, but that no decision had been made.

He said that he has asked for a report, and is awaiting a response from the JUTC to continue the discussions with the junior minister.

“But no decision has been arrived at and no procedure of this kind would have been dealt with by a 24-hour ultimatum. It has to go through a process,” Henry said.

In mid-June, the Ministry of Transport and Mining had issued a statement warning motorists to desist from infringing on the dedicated bus lane, which are in place between 6:00 am and 8:00 am, Mondays to Fridays.

Marketing and communications manager at the bus company Reginald Allen warned then that any motorist outside of JUTC drivers on duty, who end up in collisions along the dedicated JUTC bus lane, “will not be able to face their insurance providers, as nothing but JUTC buses are to be using the particular bus lane”.

— Balford Henry