Winston Sill/ Freelance Photographer
Chairman of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) Bishop Herro Blair, left, listens to a resident of Back Bush area of Mountain View Avenue as he pleaded for the buses to resume operation. In the background, representatives of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) look on.Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
Buses from the Jamaica Urban Transport Company (JUTC) roll down the volatile strip of Mountain View Avenue, Kingston again.
"The buses will resume operation effective 5:00 a.m. tomorrow (Monday)," Deputy Manager of JUTC's Osbourne Road Depot, Neville Warren, told residents of the Back Bush community yesterday.
The decision was taken following a series of meetings between the executive of the JUTC, residents of the community and the Peace Management Initiative team working in the area.
The decision taken by the JUTC got a positive response by the citizens and for a brief moment the atmosphere was like a family reunion as drivers and conductors who were present, mingled and chatted with the residents.
JUTC buses were withdrawn from the area following a controversial incident last weekend in which a bus driver was attacked, stabbed and killed by a mob along Mountain View Avenue.
Allegations are that the driver and a passenger were involved in an argument, which later escalated and took a turn for the worse. Residents of Back Bush accused the deceased of adding fuel to fire when the argument got heated.
Hundreds of JUTC workers took to the streets in protest last Monday, demanding justice for the death of their colleagues.
The bus service was suspended and the following day buses plying the Mountain View Avenue route refused go beyond the boundaries of Deanery Avenue and Windward Road.
However, the residents have put the past behind them and yesterday gave the chairman of the Peace Management Initiative and Political Ombudsman, Bishop Herro Blair, the assurance that the JUTC workers will not be attacked nor will the buses be damaged.
