KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Transport & Mining, Robert Montague, has granted public transportation groups a seven-day extension to have hackney carriage and contract carriage operators attired in uniforms, to April 8, 2019.

According to the ministry, under this regime, the uniform for hackney, contract and express carriages shall be as follows:

· Where operators are currently affiliated with a taxi or tour company, which has an established uniform for drivers, the company shall seek approval from the Transport Authority to have such uniform and any modification to such uniform, approved by the Authority. Upon approval, said uniform shall be gazetted by the Authority.

· Uniforms approved by the Authority from time to time for established sub-sector groupings such as those regulated by the Jamaica Tourist Board, shall be worn by operators within that sub-sector. The Authority shall make available to the public, a listing of such groupings and any change to such listing from time to time.

· In all other instances, the operator shall wear a clean uniform consisting of a plain denim (Jeans) or cotton dress pants or skirt, which shall be black or navy blue in colour. Pants should also be ankle length, without perforations, patches or unapproved designs, while shirts shall be white oxford type or polo shirts.

Existing route taxi and rural stage carriage operators are expected to continue wearing their approved uniforms, the ministry said.

The ministry’s extension follows a joint statement yesterday by the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services, the Jamaica Association of Transport Owners and Operators, and the National Association of Transport Operators to have the uniform implementation extended for 30 days.

“Operators are unable to maintain the daily up keep of their units (and) repay bank loans,” pointing to those in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region “whose travel time and daily income has been cut in half due to the ongoing road works” the transport operators argued.