FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Decrying the woefully inadequate number of shelters at the Falmouth Transportation Centre, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz is recommending that private entities fund the improvement of municipal corporation-run transportation hubs across the country in exchange for advertising at these facilities.

“To me, what needs to happen [is] the Government needs to come up with a private/public sector arrangement that is unique to each transportation centre, individually; because [there are] different demands and different requirements for different ones. But [it would be good] if you can get the private sector, through the advertising companies and other big brands, to put in the infrastructure and get the opportunity to brand,” Vaz said.

He was speaking during last Friday’s visit to the Falmouth facility.

Mayor C Junior Gager, who is also chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), had approached Vaz for assistance to address the issue of inadequate covering.

“When you have 20,000 people moving through Falmouth Transportation Centre a day, that is 20,000 potential customers for them. So it’s a no-brainer that they would want to invest, to be able to brand whether it is a food stall that is being used here. They are using tarpaulins and tents now; whether it is the area for seating, whatever it is, the coverings for the 11 bays, it is an easy business model that can be put in place,” Vaz added.

In a move to ease traffic congestion in the Trelawny capital, operations at the Falmouth Transportation Centre commenced September 1, 2023. But Vaz has described as unacceptable the absence of shelters for the 11 loading bays for taxis and buses serving the 22 routes and the limited seating at the facility.

“It pains my heart to come here and see what the average Jamaican has to go through on a daily basis to get to and from home and work. It is unacceptable! I am using that word [unacceptable] every day when I move around. It is unacceptable. And again I have a limited role to play because the Transport Authority is not directly responsible but I will be more than happy to have the Transport Authority work in tandem with the municipal corporation and with the ministry of Government and we come up with something holistic and we address this once and for all in every transportation centre across Jamaica. Jamaicans deserve better,” he argued.

“This is not a one-year-old problem; it is not a decades-old problem. This is from time immemorial. There is enough blame to go around Jamaica five times. I am not interested in that. I want to be the one to transform, to make the people of Jamaica – that unfortunately have to use public transportation – do so in a decent, honourable way with the comfort that they rightly deserve as taxpayers of this country. That’s my plan,” he added.

At the same time, Vaz, who took note that the TMC has been trying to upgrade the facility despite limited resources, commended Gager and his team for facilitating some branding by private entities at the transportation centre.

“I have seen enough by visiting a few transportation centres that none of them are in proper conditions for the commuting public. So this one here, I see what they have started already. All that needs to happen for Falmouth is to expand that in a structured way, allowing the private sector to work with the municipal corporation to be able to come up with something that will be beneficial for both. The big issue for the municipal corporations is that they don’t have funding. So they are just pitchy patchy, putting on band aids. You can get private sector involvement that can put up the money all at once to do it in a holistic manner. And that can be the template for all the transportation centres,” Vaz said.

“I have not been to all the transport centres but this one here for sure is the most impressive that I have been to because I see a level of order, a level of discipline, and I see a real attempt, with limited resources, by the municipal corporation to make the place as best as is within their power and control based on funding requirements. This here, based on what has been done, there is not a lot more. It just needs a proper plan and that plan has to come from a public/private partnership and it can happen in short order,” he added.

Gager expressed his gratitude to the transport minister for accepting his invitation to tour the transportation centre.

“I just want to thank you, minister, for accepting the invitation to visit us because I would like to remind you we didn’t have a transportation centre here. The folks who now use it, they actually used the road and so we wanted to take them off the road and so we have used our local initiatives to really get it to this standard,” the mayor said.

He also thanked the Trelawny police and Transport Authority for maintaining order at the facility.