TRANSPORT Minister Daryl Vaz has vowed that no unscrupulous individual with a chequered past will be at the steering wheel when the new rural school bus system is rolled out come September.

Speaking during a press briefing and school bus tour on Tuesday at PCJ Auditorium in St Andrew, Vaz said the recruitment process currently underway involves stringent vetting of applicants by the police.

“The drivers will have to go through background checks by the police to make sure that they have a clean police record,” Vaz said in response to questions posed by the Jamaica Observer.

That response followed a declaration by managing director at the Jamaica Urban Transit Corporation (JUTC) Owen Ellington that the selection process for drivers is far advanced following advertisements placed in the media.

“We are at the stage now where we’re doing pre-selection and we are having the applicants vetted by the Jamaica Constabulary Force to ensure that they are persons in whose custody we can entrust the safety of our children,” said Ellington, a former police commissioner.

He said driver training for the units, which are being procured to serve approximately 7,500 students in 258 schools islandwide, should begin no later than this Friday.

Of the total 110 buses for which delivery will be completed by the end of July, 10 will be kept back as contingency.

Among the buses will be 47 small 32-seater units with engines designed to navigate remote areas; 38 midsize buses which have 54 seats; and 25 buses designed to seat 72 people each.

In the meantime the transport minister pointed out that the drivers, who will be hired by the JUTC, will fall under the same regime as drivers currently in the system.

“They will be dealt with similar to what obtains in the JUTC now in terms of allowances, salary, travelling; whatever it is that is existing for the JUTC will be transitioned to the school bus system because it falls under the remit of the JUTC. So the fact of the matter is that it will be similar to what obtains as you take a JUTC bus now and a driver is driving you. Uniform everything that goes with it,” said Vaz.

Meanwhile director of the Safety and Security in Schools Unit in the Ministry of Education Richard Troupe told the Observer that nine of the 100 buses to be commissioned will serve special needs people across the island.

“These are specially retrofitted to facilitate the special needs community accessing the vehicles,” said Troupe.

He confirmed that “shadows” will also be allowed to travel with students with special needs because of their challenges.

A shadow provides one-on-one support to a student with disabilities within a mainstream classroom.