The Opposition says the government is to be blamed for the chaos in the public passenger transport sector.
Spokesman on Transport, Mikael Phillips says the government cannot escape blame for the latest confusion, following the announcement of a 15 percent fare increase, which has resulted in widespread overcharging, fare-stage uncertainty and the outright refusal of some commuters to pay stipulated fares.
According to Mr. Phillips, the first day of the adjusted fare table was chaotic because there was no follow-up action to the government’s fare adjustment announcement, which came on Thursday night, days before the new fare table took effect Monday (August 16).
He adds that the situation worsened, as the critical stakeholders did not know the fares between townships, villages and the parish capitals.
Mr. Phillips states that announcements like these would necessitate public education before implementation, to sensitise the public, but in this situation, there has not been any degree of public relations or public education,.
The Opposition Spokesman says the Minister of Transport, Robert Montague, must own this chaos and confusion and immediately take steps to avoid further chaos and confrontation.
He adds that it was the minister’s duty to settle the issues which have arisen between his ministry and the private operators.
Mr. Phillips said from his reports, many different fares were being charged on various routes, leaving operators and commuters to negotiate fares.
The Opposition Spokesman says the Transport Authority is overwhelmed and cannot police the over fifty rural stage and route taxi routes, operating thousands of units.
He points out that the authority has fewer than than sixty inspectors, to carry out route monitoring and enforcement, and this is woefully inadequate, given the widespread overcharging being reported.
Mr. Phillips is again calling on the minister to do a cost and affordability study of the industry, bearing in mind, the extremely long hiatus of eight years, when there was no examination of operating cost, either by the ministry or the transport authority.
He says this study must also consider the cost of living and the impact of the pandemic on the Jamaican economy.
He is also reiterating his call for a simultaneous adjustment of the minimum wage to give commuters a break.