Dear Editor,

Last year Minister of Transport Daryl Vaz publicly announced a 35 per cent fare increase for public transport operators, to be implemented in two phases. Fares increased by 19 per cent as of Sunday, October 15, and were to be increased by a further 16 per cent in April 2024.

Quite recently, a meeting was held by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke and Minister Vaz with the leadership of the taxi and bus associations. It was agreed that the 16 per cent increase now due would be placed on hold until the next fiscal year. The reason given for delaying the increase is that a further increase in taxi and bus fares would have a detrimental impact on the country’s inflation rate and would push it above 7 per cent.

I commend Egerton Newman, president of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS) and the other taxi and bus leadership for agreeing to defer the increase until the next fiscal year. The leadership has displayed responsible conduct and informed decision-making by clearly putting Jamaica first.

Transportation costs are an immense driver of inflation, and if the inflation rate goes higher than 7 per cent within any given quarter or year, the country will face a plethora of problems, such as increased interest rates, businesses expenses, and mortgage rates, and the Jamaican dollar will lose value against its US counterpart. As such, it is imperative that the country’s inflation rate is kept under 7 per cent, anywhere between 3 and 4.5 per cent would be best.

On another note, according to a senior taxi and bus representative, speaking on
Television Jamaica’s (TVJ) All Angles programme, it is crucial for the Government to refund motorists who are eligible. Motorists who paid traffic fines that were illegally imposed and well above the rates stipulated in the original Road Traffic Act (RTA) between 2006 and 2021 are entitled to a refund. This according to a landmark judgment handed down by Jamaica’s Constitutional Court in January of this year.

It is now most important, from my perspective, that ministers Vaz and Clarke inform Jamaican motorists, including the taxi and bus operators so affected, when the refund monies will be paid. This requires immediate comment and action from the two ministers so named.

Interestingly, on the same programme, development economist Dr Chris Stokes posited the view that within a free market economy such as Jamaica’s, all taxi and bus fares should be determined by supply and demand and these fares should not be set by the Government. I believe further informed discussion and debate is needed on his suggestion.

Let me take this opportunity to applaud the hard-working, dedicated, and extremely professional traffic police officers assigned to the Montego Bay Police Division. They have been having great success in ensuring that the required taxi and bus operators use the designated municipal transportation centre located along Barnett Street in Montego Bay and desist from using the streets of Montego Bay to pick up and discharge their passengers.

What is required at this time is for this municipal transportation centre to be expanded into a four-floor parking facility to accommodate significantly more public passenger vehicles (PPV) operating within Montego Bay and surrounding towns.

Over to the hard-working Minister Vaz.

Robert Dalley

opinionwriter3@gmail.com