KINGSTON, Jamaica — Travellers are expressing frustration over what they say are out of service pay stations at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston, but the airport operator insists that the machines are “operational”.

According to several frequent travellers who spoke with Observer Online, the machines are rarely functional and often leave them inconvenienced.

One male patron said he has tried to access the car park pay station twice since the start of the year and it was out of service on both occasions.

“Once in February and I believe the other was in late March, early April I think. It wasn’t working which is an inconvenience because, just like the kiosk, sometimes you just want to go do your self check-out or check-in and just move quickly, but it’s not working so you have to go and join the line and pay. So it’s like it is there but you can’t get to get the convenience of it so it nuh really make sense,” he said.

Another user complained, “There are three or four machines to allow you to pay your parking ticket so you can exit without going to the cashier. None were working when I was there a few weeks ago. When they were working, you could only pay in cash. Really? Cash only? What century are we living in?”

However, airport officials insist that all machines are operational.

Responding to Observer Online queries on Thursday, Sitara English-Byfield, chief executive officer (CEO) of NMIA operator PAC Kingston Airport Limited, said: “Like a lot mechanical systems, different machines go down at various times. There are four machines available on the main side of the airport (two in arrivals, one in the car park and one in departures) and one in cargo area. Only one machine in arrivals has been working for more than a year based on an internal decision. The arrivals machines are the least used. All other machines are operational at the time of writing.”

But another patron, who travelled in February and parked her car at the airport, also told our news team that she had issues accessing the machine on her return to Jamaica.

“I travelled in February with my partner. We left the car at the airport and when we returned the self-serve machine to pay and check out, it was out of service so we actually had to find cash to pay at the exit with the regular person that would normally collect,” she shared.

When a team from Observer Online visited the airport on Wednesday, the car park pay station was seen with a notice taped to the machine. The printed sheet read “Pay station out of service. Please pay at the cashier. Sorry for the inconvenience”.

Further checks were made with CEO English-Byfield who insisted the machine has been functional since Tuesday when she received reports that repair services were conducted after it went down recently.

The self-service pay stations are supposed to offer a convenient payment option outside of joining the cashier line which can get busy at times.

“The biggest issue we face is that persons prefer to make payment to a person instead of using the machine. This causes a backlog of vehicles as we ask them to exit the vehicles and use the machines,” English-Byfield told Observer Online.

One traveller said he has no issues with the cashier process.

“Up deh last week, collect my ticket and drive up to the lady and pay her easy easy,” the man said.

To encourage more travellers to use the machines, English-Byfield said the airport has tasked summer students with assisting with the sensitisation of the public on how to use the machines.

Explaining the “easy” process, English-Byfield said, “On entering the car park, pull a ticket from the machine. When you are ready to depart, scan the ticket at any of the pay stations, put in the bills in the slot labelled “2”; collect change if required; press ‘receipt’ on the screen, if receipt is required. The ticket is to be presented to the machine at the exit barrier which will scan the ticket to verify it has been paid and lift the barrier. Once the barrier lifts, you exit the car park.”

She noted that users have 20 minutes after payment to exit the car park.

Noting that the machines currently only accept cash, English-Byfield shared that credit card modules were procured last year which the airport hopes to have installed and functional by August of this year.