Retrofitting and servicing of rural school buses complete, says Vaz

 

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz has announced that retrofitting, servicing, tyre changes and route reviews for the rural school bus fleet have been completed.

 

At an on-site press briefing on Wednesday, Minister Vaz said the 110 buses, set to cover 122 routes, will be ready for the new school year starting September 8. 

 

Among the changes, the doors of the buses have been retrofitted from the right-hand side to the left-hand side.

 

Mr. Vaz said the ministry will adjust to the deployment of some of the buses on various routes following a period of testing.

 

"On the testing of the 122 routes where we found that some of the buses that were allocated were not suitable for the routes for different reasons, we have actually changed some of the allocations and changed for the orders for the buses to be able to specify the needs of the routes. So the bottom line is that that was the reason for the testing of the 122 routes to make sure that the buses that were assigned are compatable," he maintained. 

 

The People's National Party has raised concerns about the age of the buses and whether they are compatible with the roads in rural Jamaica.