KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Spokesperson on Transport and Mining Mikael Phillips is renewing calls for Transport Minister Daryl Vaz to provide an update on the Government’s maintenance arrangements for the 100 rural school buses supplied by El Hydro Limited, as the new school year approaches.

Phillips said the minister must explain whether the buses are properly serviced and ready to transport students when schools reopen in September.

In a statement on Thursday, the Opposition spokesperson recalled that he requested a maintenance report from Minister Vaz on July 30, 2026, following a fire involving one of the buses in Manchester. He said “poor servicing” was a probable cause, but noted that the minister has not provided an update to the public.

Phillips said his own checks revealed that the maintenance contract with El Hydro Limited expired in March and that no new agreement has been finalised more than four months later.

He described the matter as “most disturbing”, as the age of the units requires that they be serviced and checked on an ongoing basis.

“The situation is even more critical as the units are not all held at the state-owned JUTC (Jamaica Urban Transit Company) depots, but at different locations across rural Jamaica, to facilitate ease of dispatch,” Phillips said.

He said Minister Vaz must immediately provide the information so that parents, students and teachers may continue to repose the requisite confidence in the system, which is due to be expanded with the addition of another 100 new buses.

Phillips is also calling on Vaz to provide the contract cost, including management fees and other important details of the expired agreement, as well as any proposed new deal that the ministry or JUTC may be negotiating. He further wants the Minister to outline contingency plans for the September school reopening if a new maintenance contract is not secured before classes resume.