Dear Editor,
What a grand waste of time the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) demonstration in Half-Way-Tree on Monday turned out to be. I'm still in the dark as to why the protest was even organised.
Why should we be marching and protesting against a $20 increase for adults, $10 for children and the disabled, and $20 for seniors? The concessionary fare wasn't sustainable in the first place; neither on the Government's part nor that of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).
There was one statement however, which stood out to me. It was uttered from the mouth of the JLP's chairman. Robert Montague boasted that it was under his Government that some buses were bought for the JUTC, and now this present Government has decided to raise the fares — presumably to 'eat a food'. But he fell short of telling the crowd that was cheering him to continue that Cabinet approval was not given for the purchase of the buses and that the taxpayers (some of whom were in the crowd) were the ones paying for it. Why didn't he tell the people about that?
Marching through the streets won't fix the JUTC's problems and neither will lambasting the Government for not bearing more of the costs. The truth is, the Government cannot continue to heavily subsidise the state-run bus company. It is simply not profitable.
Shemar Barnes
shem_scb@yahoo.com
Grand waste of time
-->
What a grand waste of time the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) demonstration in Half-Way-Tree on Monday turned out to be. I'm still in the dark as to why the protest was even organised.
Why should we be marching and protesting against a $20 increase for adults, $10 for children and the disabled, and $20 for seniors? The concessionary fare wasn't sustainable in the first place; neither on the Government's part nor that of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).
There was one statement however, which stood out to me. It was uttered from the mouth of the JLP's chairman. Robert Montague boasted that it was under his Government that some buses were bought for the JUTC, and now this present Government has decided to raise the fares — presumably to 'eat a food'. But he fell short of telling the crowd that was cheering him to continue that Cabinet approval was not given for the purchase of the buses and that the taxpayers (some of whom were in the crowd) were the ones paying for it. Why didn't he tell the people about that?
Marching through the streets won't fix the JUTC's problems and neither will lambasting the Government for not bearing more of the costs. The truth is, the Government cannot continue to heavily subsidise the state-run bus company. It is simply not profitable.
Shemar Barnes
shem_scb@yahoo.com
Grand waste of time
-->