Opposition calls for report on Portmore Transport Hub
Published:Wednesday | May 30, 2018 | 12:00 AMEdmond Campbel/Senior Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Transport and Mining is being urged to provide the country with a status report on plans to develop the Portmore Transport Hub Project, which is expected to reduce some expenses that both the Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) and Portmore residents incur daily.
Opposition Spokesman on Transport Mikael Phillips has charged that toll road charges for the JUTC would cost the company in excess of $400 million this year.
In his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Phillips pointed out that the optimal daily requirement of buses to serve Portmore residents was 150. However, he said that the maximum number of buses projected to be deployed from the Portmore Depot in the JUTC's 2018-19 projection was only 123.
"The Portmore residents are once again being punished with substandard operations and there are no future plans to alleviate the distress," said Phillips. He said that if the Government has scrapped plans to pump more money into the project, "the minister must indicate to the taxpayers what will become of the millions spent on preliminary costs, such as designs and soil tests".
Phillips argued that the Portmore Transport Hub would assist in fulfilling the Vision 2030 objectives and, more directly, the operations of the JUTC by allowing the buses to be rolled out on a more efficient basis and providing a higher level of service.
According to Phillips, the Portmore Transport Hub is expected to provide improved passenger comfort by allowing connections to Half-Way Tree, downtown Kingston, and Spanish Town, all in one location. He said that the hub would also reduce the fuel consumption, toll costs and "the infuriating traffic jam on the roadways, especially in the peak periods".