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INGRID BROWN, Observer staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, February 07, 2008
GOVERNMENT says there is no money to start work on the proposed $25-million Linstead transport centre, despite the insistence of the former transport minister that all the necessary arrangements were in place when his administration left office last September.
According to Transport Minister Mike Henry, a report he requested on the proposed project revealed that there was a great gap in financing for the project.
Said Henry: "You can't begin to want to open transport centres until you make one model work and, in the context of that, we have a deficit on this centre; so, do I go along opening up transport centres at deficits which is costing taxpayers' money?"
"It would appear to me that this project might have been conceived on a rock, developed in haste and I am hoping I can deliver it on a changed course," quipped Henry.
However, Robert Pickersgill, who served as transport minister under the previous People's National Party Government, said there was no reason for the delay.
"I really want to know what is causing the delay because all the 'Ts' were crossed and the 'Is' were dotted for construction to begin when I left office," Pickersgill told the Observer.
Pickersgill, who is the MP for North West St Catherine, of which Linstead is a part, said ground was broken last July for the transport centre, with the expectation that the centre would have been completed in a few months time.
He said he was recently informed by the new Transport Authority that the project had been put on hold.
"There is nothing that should be holding it back because, in fact a very convenient piece of real estate in Linstead was bought from the Coffee Board for it (the transport centre) to be built on," he said.
Pickersgill said it was the intention to have the centre as a complement to the taxi stand in the town.
"Now all they (Transport Authority) are saying is they are reviewing it and I don't know what they are reviewing because the only urban town I can think of in terms of commuters and transportation volume comparable to Linstead would be Santa Cruz," he said
Henry, in the meantime, said if the Linstead transport centre is part of a development of transport centres across the country, he was expecting to see an analysis as it related to the town's population, which would be most important in terms of the developmental process of transport centres overall.
"For instance, I wasn't seeing anything being done for May Pen which is the third largest town in Jamaica," Henry said.
He said the Montego Bay Metropolitan bus service should also have the use of a transport centre, which would be priority, while there should also be one built in Portmore, St Catherine.
But Pickersgill said that until a transport centre is constructed in Linstead the town would continue to experience serious congestion, which he said was already putting added pressure on the police.
The site for the Linstead transport centre, which is being used by minibuses and taxis plying the Linstead to Spanish Town and Linstead to Bog Walk routes, is covered by marl.
Commuters in that area have complained bitterly about the dust nuisance from the marl, as well as the inconvenience caused by the lack of sanitary facilities.
The proposed facility should have included parking bays, waiting areas, sanitary conveniences and pedestrian walkways and was to be built to accommodate 450 taxis and 53 minibuses.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
GOVERNMENT says there is no money to start work on the proposed $25-million Linstead transport centre, despite the insistence of the former transport minister that all the necessary arrangements were in place when his administration left office last September.
According to Transport Minister Mike Henry, a report he requested on the proposed project revealed that there was a great gap in financing for the project.
Said Henry: "You can't begin to want to open transport centres until you make one model work and, in the context of that, we have a deficit on this centre; so, do I go along opening up transport centres at deficits which is costing taxpayers' money?"
"It would appear to me that this project might have been conceived on a rock, developed in haste and I am hoping I can deliver it on a changed course," quipped Henry.
However, Robert Pickersgill, who served as transport minister under the previous People's National Party Government, said there was no reason for the delay.
"I really want to know what is causing the delay because all the 'Ts' were crossed and the 'Is' were dotted for construction to begin when I left office," Pickersgill told the Observer.
Pickersgill, who is the MP for North West St Catherine, of which Linstead is a part, said ground was broken last July for the transport centre, with the expectation that the centre would have been completed in a few months time.
He said he was recently informed by the new Transport Authority that the project had been put on hold.
"There is nothing that should be holding it back because, in fact a very convenient piece of real estate in Linstead was bought from the Coffee Board for it (the transport centre) to be built on," he said.
Pickersgill said it was the intention to have the centre as a complement to the taxi stand in the town.
"Now all they (Transport Authority) are saying is they are reviewing it and I don't know what they are reviewing because the only urban town I can think of in terms of commuters and transportation volume comparable to Linstead would be Santa Cruz," he said
Henry, in the meantime, said if the Linstead transport centre is part of a development of transport centres across the country, he was expecting to see an analysis as it related to the town's population, which would be most important in terms of the developmental process of transport centres overall.
"For instance, I wasn't seeing anything being done for May Pen which is the third largest town in Jamaica," Henry said.
He said the Montego Bay Metropolitan bus service should also have the use of a transport centre, which would be priority, while there should also be one built in Portmore, St Catherine.
But Pickersgill said that until a transport centre is constructed in Linstead the town would continue to experience serious congestion, which he said was already putting added pressure on the police.
The site for the Linstead transport centre, which is being used by minibuses and taxis plying the Linstead to Spanish Town and Linstead to Bog Walk routes, is covered by marl.
Commuters in that area have complained bitterly about the dust nuisance from the marl, as well as the inconvenience caused by the lack of sanitary facilities.
The proposed facility should have included parking bays, waiting areas, sanitary conveniences and pedestrian walkways and was to be built to accommodate 450 taxis and 53 minibuses.