KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Spokesman on Transport, Mikael Phillips has called for a probe into an incident involving a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus carrying staff and family members from a trip to Trelawny, which yesterday ran off the road into a precipice near Moneague, St Ann, injuring 29 people.

Phillips argued that the crash occurred at a time when there are “heightened concerns about the company’s ability to conduct common maintenance and repairs on the fleet of buses”.

“Some of the persons among the injured are already suggesting that the unit may have been defective or developed a defect en route, which contributed to the accident,” said Phillips.

“If this is so, it requires an investigation because the safety of both the staff and the public is paramount, and with back-to-school just weeks away, every effort must be made to ensure that our buses are safe for the over 200,000 commuters, especially students who will be utilising the bus service as schools re-open,” Phillips said in a People’s National Party release today.

 He called on the management of the JUTC to conduct an independent investigation of the incident and provide a detailed report of the cause of the crash.

Phillips said some of injured were taken to the St Ann’s Bay Hospital for emergency treatment while people with minor injuries were taken to the Moneague base of the Jamaica Defence Force for initial treatment.

He expressed sympathy to the injured adding that there has been no report of loss of life.