June 29 date set for JUTC-transport operators court battle
Published:Thursday | March 5, 2015 | 9:34 AM
June 29 has been set as the date when the Judicial Review Court will hear the application challenging the decision of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) to commandeer a section of the Mandela Highway.
The application filed by Rural Transit Company Limited, which is being represented by attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman, is seeking to challenge the constitutionality of the move.
The company is contending that the decision of the JUTC to designate a section of the highway for its exclusive use is a breach of the constitutional rights of public passenger operators.
Meanwhile, the group of public passenger operators are awaiting a ruling by the Supreme Court on an application challenging the sub-franchise fees charged by the JUTC to ply routes in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR).
The court reserved judgment in January.
The group is contending that the JUTC has no authority to charge the fees and that its action is unlawful.
Last year, the JUTC reclaimed many of its routes in the KMTR and discontinued its sub-franchise arrangement with dozens of public passenger operators.
The bus company also increased fees charged to operators who were granted new sub-franchise licences.