Klao Bell, staff reporterSterling Soares, president of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company, is contemplating whether or not he will stay on as head of the fledgling public transport company after his contract expires at the end of March.
"I'm not yet sure what I will do or if the chairman will have me stay on," he told The Sunday Gleaner during an interview in his Spanish Town office last week Wednesday.
He told The Sunday Gleaner that he is not fully satisfied with how things have gone during his bumpy two-year tenure.
"I have achieved some things but not fully satisfied overall. I thought we would have been able to accomplish more," Mr. Soares said.
One area of disappointment is with the lack of resources to implement computer software required to help the operation run effectively.
"If we had started making certain projections earlier we could have started putting in software to facilitate present growth. But we lacked the resources to get that aspect moving," he said.
He also said internal strengthening of the organisation was interrupted by the many changes in the composition of the management team.
"There have been changes in management and at the board level, which have interrupted the flow of ideas and direction somewhat. With every change the staff have had to adjust to the thinking of the new players. We have had to concentrate on building the service of the buses but now it's time to focus on building the internal organisation," Mr. Soares said.
In 2000 there were at least four changes in managers and board members.
These days Mr. Soares has been pre-occupied with cutting costs and improving operating efficiencies. Raising the bus fare to increase revenue is not a likely option this year.
He shared some existing and emerging cost-cutting approaches.
"We are looking at how to cut back on some overlapping routes. Some routes are not very feasible but we have to provide a service still, because it is required. We've embarked on preventive maintenance of buses, monitoring fuel, retreading back tyres (most bus companies do)," Mr. Soares said.
"We're thinking of having intra and inter Portmore services, where buses transport people to a certain point in Portmore and then from there to Downtown or Half-Way Tree. Many of our plans may take between 18 and 24 months before we start to see benefits," Mr. Soares said.
One of the benefits that Mr. Soares, who described himself as a dreamer, wants to see is for JUTC drivers and conductors to be agents of goodwill to the Jamaican people.
"I hoped to see the staff impact on the civility of the public to a greater extent," Mr. Soares said.
