First school bus procured by Portland MPs begin operating

A school bus procured by the members of parliament in Portland is now up and running with dozens of students boarding the bus for the first time on Monday morning.

The bus was acquired by MP for West Portland, Daryl Vaz, and his wife Ann-Marie Vaz, the MP for East Portland, through a private arrangement and was refurbished and retrofitted with cameras and other electronic devices.

On Monday, the first of what is expected to be a total of 11 buses for Portland students, took to the streets transporting students from the town of Buff Bay to Port Antonio.

"It is a time to honour, uplift, and invest in our nations future. Today's launch is about more than buses. It is about restoring hope, ensuring safety, and offering equity in access to education. This initiative was borne out of tragedy and shaped by vision, in the wake of the painful accidents in Black Hill and White Rock (Buff Bay), which claimed the lives of at least three of our children. We knew we had to act. So MP Ann-Marie Vaz and myself committed to doing something," said Daryl Vaz, who is the transport minister.

He said they will be buying three more buses for the parish.

According to Mr Vaz, the buses form part of a commitment given to parents and students, which he said will result in a more efficient school bus system operating throughout the parish, from Hectors River, in the East, near the border of Portland and St Thomas and from Windsor Castle in the West near the border of Portland and St Mary.

"What better time to begin the journey than in May as it is child's month," commented Minister Vaz.

"This initiative was a MP-driven initiative for Portland, which has now gone through into an all-island rural school bus system to be operated and funded by the government of Jamaica. So where we are going to be doing four buses, {but} the ministry of education has allocated seven additional buses to the parish of Portland out of the rural school bus initiative... out of the first hundred bus. So if you add four and seven you get eleven," he stated.

Under the rural school bus system initiative, students will now be able to travel to school in ease and comfort on a timely basis, thus eliminating challenges such as alleged verbal abuse from some taxi and mini operators, having to travel in the trunk of taxis, and being forced to endure the indignity of sitting on each other's laps as they journey to school.

Meanwhile, the East Portland MP, who expressed joy at having seen her dream of having a rural school bus system in place to assist students getting to and from school, stated that students will be able to travel on the bus free of cost for the entire month of May, which is being celebrated as child's month.

"Every student should be able to get to school on time with utmost ease, instead of having to wait long hours to get to school. The remaining buses will be here for September and this will allow for students living in the Rio Grande Valley of East Portland to get to their destination on time. Already we have set up, through the municipal corporation, designated loading and unloading zones for the buses in the varied towns. Those living in remote areas will be shuttled down to the zones, through a private arrangement with taxi and mini bus operators. And we are very happy for the students," she added.

- Gareth Davis

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