Barbados Labour Party Shadow Minister of Transport, Trevor Prescod says its clear that the state-run public transportation system is in crisis.
He made the charge in a statement issued today, a day after hundreds were left stranded at terminals as Transport Board buses underwent annual maintenance.
Prescod said this followed “vague assurances from the Minister of Transport Michael Lashley at a DLP political meeting last Sunday night that private operators would be roped in to alleviate the crisis in school transport”.
“It was no surprise that he was chided by one of the transport association leaders for making such an announcement before any discussion with the organisations that represent the private transport sector.
“It cannot be fair that after a long day at work or school that passengers are abandoned for hours upon hours in the bus terminal with no sign of a single bus to get them home. I have been advised that there are only some 60 odd Transport Board buses in operation for an island wide service that requires three times that number of buses at the very minimum,” Prescod said.
The St Michael East Member of Parliament said passenger safety was also a concern, especially women who may have to walk along dark country roads to reach their homes.
“This Government has not bought a single new bus since coming to office and despite a series of expensive maintenance contracts has failed the working class of Barbados, who have no other means of getting to work, to the hospital or the supermarket,” he said. (PR/NB)