John Myers Jr. and Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writers
Commuters about to board JUTC buses in Half-Way Tree, St. Andrew, yesterday. The Ministry of Transport and Works is considering the approval of increased bus fares. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
MINISTER OF Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, has confirmed that Government is considering the granting of a fare increase to the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) and taxi operators.
Mr. Pickersgill said the matter is being discussed but declined to say whether those discussions were taking place at the Cabinet level.
"I want to state categorically that I have made no statement on a fare increase," Mr. Pickersgill recently told The Gleaner in response to reports that
Cabinet had approved a fare increase.
The minister said the management of the JUTC, a Government-run company, has lobbied for a hike in fares. He said the company had pointed to the increase in the cost of fuel, tyres and insurance rates since Government granted its last fare increase in August 2003.
He added: "It's being discussed but a fare increase is not something you do lightly."
David Geddes, director of public and consumer affairs at the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), said yesterday the Ministry of Transport and the JUTC have applied for a review of the bus company's fare structure to determine the true economic cost of operating the bus service and to recommend an appropriate fare increase.
Starting today at the Philippo Baptist Church in Spanish Town, the OUR will be conducting a series of public sessions to elicit feed back from the public on the operations of the JUTC in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR).
The public sessions will continue on August 9 at the Lions Civic Centre in Portmore and Stephanie Hall (Holy Childhood High School) in St. Andrew on August 11. Mr. Geddes said the OUR should complete the process and make its recommendations to the Minister of Transport by August 22.
ACCOUNTS NOT YET TABLED
On Wednesday, JUTC President Patrick McIntosh said the bus company's 2005 audited accounts have not yet been tabled in Parliament, but that losses would be "about $600 million to $700 million for 2005". In 2004, losses were $161 million.
"Last year, we made a 76 per cent recovery of operating costs from the farebox, and 69 per cent in 2004," Mr. McIntosh reported. "The fare structure does not allow us to make a 100 per cent recovery in operating costs."
