Phillips promises public transportation plan in six months as government
‘We are talking about light rail [transportation services] from Spanish Town to downtown [Kingston], light rail from Portmore to downtown.’
THE COUNTRY will have a national plan to transform the transportation sector within six months under the next administration of the People’s National Party (PNP), says Mikael Phillips, the opposition shadow minister of transport and mining.
Phillips says the transport portfolio plan under his watch will not focus only on the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) but will cater to all those who choose to provide a service to the commuting public.
“I am making this promise: that when the People’s National Party is re-elected, give me six months as minister of transport, and we will have a national transport plan. We are not talking about the JUTC; we are talking about route taxes,” Phillips said during a meeting held at The Manning’s School earlier this week.
The JUTC is an agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport and is the exclusive state-owned provider of public transit services in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR). Its operations are spread out across various depots in Spanish Town, Portmore and Rockfort. The company delivers public transport services seven days a week and is arguably the largest driver pool in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Philips said his government’s national transport plan will also see a steady return of the country’s rail service, with a key focus on the St Catherine parish capital of Spanish Town, and the city of Kingston.
“We are talking about light rail [transportation services] from Spanish Town to downtown [Kingston], light rail from Portmore to downtown,” the transport and mining shadow minister told the party faithful in Westmoreland.
“We are talking about Savanna-la-Mar having proper parking for the taxi man them. We are talking about better roads for the taxi drivers, and we are talking about comfortable spaces for the commuters to be able to stand and wait, not for a long time because what we want to show Jamaica is that we have a plan and that we care for the people that we represent,” Phillips explained.