JUTC to use maintenance plan to shore up fleet – Vaz

WESTERN BUREAU:

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz says while the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) needs a fleet of approximately 500 to 600 buses, the Government in the short term cannot afford that level of capital expenditure.

Instead, the minister informed that a maintenance plan is being forged between its international manufacturer to repair a portion of its aged fleet, thereby reducing the need to purchase new buses.

Currently, the state-owned and operated public transportation company is rolling out approximately 250 buses.

Vaz said that by the end of July, the fleet will have some new 170 buses that have been purchased over the last 12 months.

“Ideally, the JUTC needs between 500 and 600 buses,” Vaz said during an interview with reporters at the inaugural staging of the Caribbean Spectrum Management Conference being held at the Half Moon Conference Centre, Half Moon Hotel in St James.

“I can say that we have a plan for the refurbishing of some of the existing buses by the manufacturer’s representative which will give us another 10 years, and obviously a significant reduction in terms of refurbishing against buying,” he stated.

According to the transportation portfolio minister, having the buses repaired is probably 20-25 per cent of the cost when compared to buying new buses.

“We have that plan in terms of the rolling stock that we have in the JUTC which includes the Volvo articulated buses because the Government will not be able to buy 500 new buses in the short term,” Vaz said.

Yesterday, he also announced that 100 new buses built to specification are expected on the island before the end of July.

“The 100 buses have been finished, they are completely manufactured and they are now awaiting a shipping date which could be as early as the 7th of June, which will get here sometime in the middle of July,” Vaz said.

“Basically, we have reached the point where those buses are going to be loaded on a vessel, all of them at one time and arrive in Jamaica in July, which means we will have them ready for back to school in September,” the transport minister said.

But even with those additional buses, the financial haemorrhaging at the JUTC is expected to continue into the 2024-2025 financial year, projecting nearly $16 billion in losses.

$9.7 BILLION LOSS

At the end of the last fiscal year 2023-2024, the cash-trapped bus company registered losses of $9.7 billion.

However, when a government grant amounting to $8.3 billion is taken into account, the state-owned bus company is expected to record losses of $7.6 billion for the 2024-2025 financial year.

According to a Gleaner story published in February, there will be upward movements in costs associated with staffing. However, when the income statement of the JUTC is interrogated it showed that staff costs will move from more than $3.8 billion in 2023-2024 to a little more than $5 billion for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Security costs have also jumped from $296.5 million for the current financial year to $520 million in the upcoming fiscal year.

The Government, through an announcement by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke, reduced the cost of fares to ride on JUTC buses, while providing an increase to public passenger vehicle operators.

The Government noted that the reduction in fares is part of measures to curtail the impact of the increase in public passenger vehicle (PPV) fares on the overall inflation rate.

Since January, the regular JUTC adult bus fare was reduced from $100 to $70; children’s fare moved from $30 to $25; and pensioners from $40 to $30.

In April, there was a further reduction in the regular adult fare from $70 to $50, children’s fare moved from $25 to $20, and pensioners’ rate from $30 to $25.

Last October, the Government announced a 35 per cent increase in PPV fares. This was scheduled to be implemented in two tranches, with 19 per cent on October 15 and a further 16 per cent on April 1 this year. The latter was aborted after consultation with PPV operators.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com