HOPEWELL, Hanover — The Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) is hoping to fix, by next year, several issues that prevent public transportation operators from using the Hopewell Transportation Centre.

According to HMC Chief Executive Officer David Gardner, the corporation was expecting that — with the creation of a police station in Hopewell — the police would ensure compliance by transport operators utilising the park. He thinks this would help boost efforts to have the park generate needed funds.

The building that the police currently use in Hopewell is owned by the HMC.

“One of the reasons we would have had the police station in Hopewell would have been to ensure that there is compliance as it relates to this. We made our property available to have this happening. However, there is a challenge at the moment in that the police are not able to enforce because the Transport Authority needs to ensure that the road licences [the operators] have on them terminate in the Hopewell Transport Centre,” stated Gardner.

He was addressing a town hall meeting held at the municipal corporation chamber recently. The CEO said the corporation is in dialogue with the Transport Authority, which has given an assurance that the park will be listed on licences as a termination point.

President of the Hanover Taxi Association Courtney Hudson, who is disappointed that the association was not invited to the public meeting, agrees that the park must be fixed before it can be used. He said the transportation centre does not meet the basic standards of the Transport Authority, it has been in a very dilapidated condition for years and therefore cannot be utilised.

Hudson provided insight into challenges faced by transport operators in the fast-growing coastal town.

“As operators, we cannot operate from a facility with no bathroom facilities, no proper security, no distinct marking and most importantly, operators cannot be in the transport centre operating and then you have other operators operating from the [town] square. You also have the buses that pick up in the square, and yet you are saying that the operators are to go into the transport centre,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“That’s not fair to investors who have invested millions in a sector and expect to feed their families on this. It is unfair to the operators,” added Hudson.

“Secondly, the safety report from the fire station must be done because they also have [rules] as it relates to code and the facility and how the facility must be managed when there is a code. The last time when they opened it and I went and had dialogue with them [HMC], they didn’t get any approval from [fire brigade],” he alleged.

“They can’t be the operators of this facility [and while] they’re trying to force people into it to operate, [they are] not adhering to the standards,” added Hudson.

Two Sundays ago, operators had a meeting with the police and there was consensus about how they are going to operate during the Yuletide. A further meeting is expected with the Transport Authority and the HMC to plan the way forward.

“So far it is working well, based on all indications. We expect to make sure and monitor the operators so that they don’t block up the place,” stated Hudson.

“The problem is that these people are just looking at one set of people. You have the vendors and all of those who take over the sidewalk. These are all issues as it relates to the municipality,” he added.

The town hall meeting was held in accordance with provisions outlined in sections 22 and 41 of the Local Governance Act of 2016.