ST CATHERINE, Jamaica — The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) says its investigation into recent bus fires has so far revealed what appears to be substandard workmanship, which may have caused at least two of three incidents.

The company said the discovery was made after it intensified its monitoring and assessment of buses over the course of two weeks.

Managing Director of the JUTC Paul Abrahams, in a statement this morning from the State-run company, said “it appears there are efforts to undermine the operations of the bus company; both internal and external. This includes attack on members of staff and its assets”.

He disclosed that among the breaches found during preventative fire checks were a fuel line being too loose beside a turbo, and a rag that was used to tie a hydraulic line among other displaced connections in the engine.

“These breaches can cause spontaneous combustion when in operation mode and may have prompted at least two of the three fires.  We are taking a zero tolerance approach to the recent fires and have warned personnel that there should be no recurrence,” he said.

Abrahams noted that with the recent fires, greater focus is being placed on quality maintenance of all units and a Fire Prevention Team was formed.

The main objective of this team, JUTC said, is to ensure that all units are up to safety standards for the commuting public and that all procedures are adhered to.

At a separate meeting on Monday, Abrahams said that the fire team will report every week on the faults they have found and the corrective measures they have put in place.  A fire prevention checklist has also been developed and the staff has been given refresher fire prevention training, in addition to the regular maintenance programme in effect, JUTC added.

Abrahams also said administrative sanctions following due process will be brought to bear on those found to be responsible for poor workmanship and that the investigations continue. 

Meanwhile, the management of the JUTC is appealing to members of the public to report any infractions by its staff or the public, to include but not limited to stone throwing incidents, bus fires, and or customer service issues. The public may call toll free 876. 888.588.2287, WhatsApp 876-570-1789 or use our social media platforms – @jutcltd for twitter and www.facebook.com/jutcltd.