Spalding transport operators withdraw service
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Public transport operators on the Spalding to Mandeville route yesterday parked their vehicles, inconveniencing students on the first day of the new school year.
The action, they said, was in protest against what they claimed has been unfair treatment by the police.
Ivan “Worm“ McIntosh, who described himself as a loader man, said that while the work stoppage meant they did not earn for the day, it was important for the drivers to make a statement.
McIntosh said that there was consensus that the first day of school was the “best day” because the police were more likely to take notice.
“They (drivers) can’t come in the town freely. Some getting 16 tickets in one day. Mi nuh like the situation weh dem (police) a deal wid, it nuh right,” he said.
McIntosh said that if a driver, in an effort to help an elderly passenger, did not go straight to the designated parking area, that driver could be ticketed.
He said even if they are alone in the vehicle in some areas, they would still be fined for operating contrary to their road licence.
Knox Community College student Jonathan Campbell was among those affected by the protest.
At 10:00 am when he should have long been at school he was still in one of the parks in Mandeville awaiting transport to Spalding. Campbell was eventually assisted to his destination by a taxi operating on another route.
Sergeant Florizel Williams of the Mandeville Traffic Department said that while the police were aware of the protest, it was being done peacefully.
“There is a free flow of traffic, no obstruction. It is their right,” he said.
Addressing the complaint that drivers were being ticketed for operating contrary to their road licences, Williams said that a road licence is a contract that has specific regulations about how it should be used.
Late yesterday afternoon, McIntosh told the Jamaica Observer that the drivers had resumed working but said that they planned to continue showing their discontent today.
Meanwhile, the new school year started smoothly at Villa Road Primary and Junior High and Mandeville Primary and Junior High.
One parent, Marlene Chance of Redberry in Porus, who was seen leaving a book store in Mandeville, said that she was still working on getting all the textbooks for her children.
