Opposition Tourism Spokesman Mikael Phillips has declared the newly implemented 7:00 pm curfew unrealistic, given the current state of affairs in the transport sector at the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) as well as with rural
transport operations.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon (August 10), the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) said it believed the bringing forward of the curfew would only lead to unavoidable breaches by workers and other commuters.

Phillips said the JUTC’s daily bus run has been in free fall for some time now and the fleet is now woefully inadequate to serve the evening peak hours.

“Compressing the evening commute into one bus cycle, since it takes more than an hour from origin to destination, particularly on the longer Spanish Town, Portmore and the hills of St Andrew routes, will prove unworkable,” he said.

He said that while the prime minister was giving his press briefing last night, many commuters were still awaiting public transport in Half-Way Tree and downtown as 8 o’clock was already extremely challenging for public transport services.

“Of the JUTC’s scheduled roll-out of 346 units, only 208 were dispatched yesterday and this morning only 212 units, with thirty already having to return for various defects,” Phillips said.

IMPOSSIBLE FOR COMMUTERS TO GET HOME BEFORE CURFEW

He also emphasised that if seats are inadequate, the system will be overcrowded, exacerbating the problem with the COVID virus spread.

Phillips said it was impossible for commuters to get home before the curfew unless the Government provided the necessary resources to repair and maintain the company’s fleet, more than 50 per cent of which is now parked due to
lack of spare parts.

He said this has continued for months while drivers were sitting idle with no buses to operate.

Phillips said he believed commuters ought not to be cited for curfew breaches if the Government fails to provide adequate transport services in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR) in order for people to get home.

He said the situation in rural Jamaica was even worse due to the longer commute, and unless business hours are reduced, the public transport infrastructure cannot adequately cope with a 7:00 pm curfew.