Vaz says normality is returning to the transport sector

A day after public transport operators withdrew their services in an island-wide protest over aspects of Jamaica’s new road traffic law, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz says normality is returning.

Vaz, who on Monday called the operators’ actions premature and misleading, said he was pleased with Tuesday’s turn of events.

“Based on police reports… from the Transport Authority’s regional offices, normalcy appears to be returning. There are no buses, different shapes and routes, and the roadblocks themselves, which were removed yesterday, have not been reinstalled,” Vaz said.

“I therefore hope that this trend will continue throughout the morning so that people can attend to their legal business and arrive on time, and most importantly, to remind all carriers that the meeting scheduled for this morning at The time at the Transport Authority office is 9 a.m.,” he added.

The meeting is expected to be attended by police, transport authorities, the island’s traffic authorities and a team from the Ministry of Transport, which is considering concerns raised at the June 5 meeting.

“I hope this was all just a big misunderstanding about yesterday’s problem and that there was no other motive, but I’m happy to say that common sense prevailed,” Vaz said.

He added that “there were no winners yesterday, including those who withdrew their services because they made nothing that day.”

The nationwide industrial action by public transport operators was reportedly sparked by concerns about aspects of the new road traffic law, most notably the accumulation of penalty points for road traffic offenses which led to the suspension of some driving licenses.

– Gareth Davis

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