Cleaning issues affect JUTC buses

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Recently, during separate journeys by Automotives on route 44, mosquitoes were seen flying through air-conditioned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses. The route is from downtown Kingston to Havendale, via Cross Roads, Half-Way Tree and Red Hills Road.

While female mosquitoes prefer moist areas for the growth of their offspring, the buses could also have also been stored in an area where mosquitoes were breeding.

On another occasion, along route 46, which is similar to 44 but goes to Meadowbrook instead of Havendale, two of the JUTC bus seats were heavily covered with dust. This could be due to a lack of cleaning or a passenger travelling with very dusty luggage.

Corporate communications manager of the JUTC, Reginald Allen, said "bus cleaners are assigned to the major depots and they clean the buses during nights. Internally, the buses are cleaned manually by a bus-cleaning crew and externally, by a mechanical cleaner. The NWC [has] also set water restrictions and we also have to abide by these".

He further pointed out that some buses, such as the yellow ones, have fabric seats which naturally retain more dust and other particles than the fibreglass seats in the white buses.

He also alluded to incidents where rodents have been spotted on JUTC buses, but attributed this to untidy persons who take snack on board. Two persons with whom Automotives spoke said they had encountered flies and mosquitoes on both the 44 and 46 JUTC buses.