KINGSTON, Jamaica — 

Opposition Spokesman on Transport, Mikael Phillips, has charged that the viability of the state-run Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) is seriously threatened and its operations in decline. 

“The government cannot deliver on its promises so pompously announced and thunderously applauded in this honourable House,” Phillips stated during his recent contribution to the 2022/23 Sectoral Debate at Gordon House. 

According to Phillips, the broken promises include 50 new buses which have not been delivered; the non-delivery of electric buses, and those using liquefied natural gas; a cashless system upgrade which is yet to take place; and 350 buses with WiFi onboard, “but not even one installed”. 

“Regrettably, the Minister who made those promises no longer carries portfolio responsibility because we would love to hear from him what happened to the promises. However, we have the new Minister [Audley Shaw], and I welcome him with a notice that we need a status report on all those promises made with such arrogance and gusto by his predecessor,” said Phillips. 

He asserted that a 2016 decision by the government to grant an additional 20,000 road licenses to “legitimise illegal operators”, particularly in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), continues to haunt the JUTC. 

Said Phillips: “Then, up to 47,000 seats were provided by legal and illegal taxis offering stage carriage services in the exclusive area licensed to the JUTC under the Public Passenger Transport (Corporate Area) Act. This takes place in an environment where the JUTC is under pain of this licence requiring it to provide 31,000 seats daily to meet commuter demand for transit services. These additional licences have only provided cover for the entry of more illegal operators who now violate with impunity”.

“The situation is now way beyond the capacity of both the Transport Authority and the small team of police officers from PSTEB [Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch] which enforce rules in public transport and stand between the present situation and total anarchy,” he added. 

The Opposition spokesman said “the operating environment has become menacing with taxis stopping suddenly everywhere, driving on the right-hand side of the road, pulling out without signals, overcrowding, and operating without regard to the road traffic regulations”. 

Phillips pointed to the Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure which indicates that for the last two fiscal years, as well as the current one, the state-owned bus company will cost taxpayers $21 billion in subsidies. 

“The company is projecting in 2022/23 to lose $8 billion on its operations, $5.1 billion after government subsidy and depreciation, with a total accumulated loss of over $17 billion. The company continues these huge losses every year, higher than projected. At the same time, not even one year under this administration has the JUTC achieved the targets set out in its Corporate Plan,” he said.