KINGSTON, Jamaica— People’s National Party (PNP) spokesman on transport, Mikael Phillips, says the newly implemented 7:00 pm curfew  is, ”unrealistic given the current state-of-affairs in the transport sector at the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) as well as with rural transport operations.”

In a statement today, the spokesman said his party believes the issues within the transport sector will lead to ”unavoidable breaches by workers and other commuters.”

”JUTC’s daily bus run has been in free fall for some time now and the fleet is now woefully inadequate to serve the evening peak hours,” Phillips said.

“Compressing the evening commute into one bus cycle, since it takes more than an hour from origin to destination, particularly on the longer Spanish Town, Portmore and the hills of St Andrew routes, will prove unworkable,” he added.

According to the opposition spokesman, “of the JUTC’s scheduled roll-out of 346 units, only 208 were dispatched yesterday and this morning only 212 units, with 30 already having to return for various defects.”

He also noted that if seats are inadequate, the system will be overcrowded, exacerbating the problem with the COVID virus spread. 

Phillips said it would be near impossible for commuters to get home before the curfew unless the Government provided the necessary resources to repair and maintain the company’s fleet, noting that more than fifty per cent of the fleet is now parked due to lack of spare parts.

Phillips said he believes commuters should not to be cited for curfew breaches if the Government fails to provide adequate transport services in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR) in order for people to get home.

Phillips noted the situation in rural Jamaica was even worse due to the longer commute, and unless business hours are reduced, the public transport infrastructure cannot adequately cope with a 7:00pm curfew.