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Transport Minister Daryl Vaz
By Clinton McGregor
Amid growing complaints about the poor state of the country's transportation sector, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz has pledged to undertake a comprehensive review of the system.
Speaking Thursday at a Transportation Conference, Mr. Vaz admitted that the sector is in need of a major overhaul.
The newly installed minister said the government is determined to develop a reliable transport system.
Mr. Vaz disclosed that discussions are ongoing at the Cabinet level to speed up the procurement of new buses to boost the depleted fleet of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).
Commuters have been complaining bitterly about poor service from the state-owned bus company, with a number of the complaints relating to a shortage of buses.
Mr. Vaz said 75 new buses, five of which are electric, are to arrive on the island in short order.
He said he is also in the process of procuring additional buses.
"The Minister of Finance would have indicated in his budget presentation that there would be 200 buses that will be ordered in the next financial year, and the years after, which would be 2024/25, 2025/26. The Prime Minister has indicated to me that we cannot wait that long, so I leave him to deal with the Minister of Finance while I start a procurement for 100 JUTC buses immediately," he disclosed.
Mr. Vaz said he will in the coming weeks be seeking to get a first-hand view of the state of the public transportation system.