MoBay BPO operators urge Government to prioritise transport centre

WESTERN BUREAU:

OUTSOURCING OPERATORS in Montego Bay are calling on the Government to treat as a matter of priority the establishment of a transport centre that matches the rapid development taking place in the region.

This follows a meeting with Minister Homer Davis, coordinator of Special Projects and Major Developments in Western Jamaica, to discuss concerns that transport operators contracted to outsourcing firms are contributing to the traffic gridlock in the Second City on a daily basis.

During the meeting, which also included the divisional commander for St James, Senior Superintendent Vernon Ellis, the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), developer Barnett Limited, as well as representatives of top BPO operations - itelbpo, Conduent and Teleperformance Jamaica - it was proposed that the private bus park on Lower Market Street be used as a temporary terminus for call centre workers.

“While the bus park at Pier One is a workable plan, the city of Montego Bay needs an international bus terminus, because the city continues to grow but the infrastructure has not grown,” Yoni Epstein, CEO and chairman of itelbpo, said after the meeting on Wednesday. “BPO is not the only sector operating in this city, so there needs to be a long-term plan that can facilitate all the industries. But if BPO is seen as the problem, we can go elsewhere.”

The outsourcing sector employs approximately 50,000 workers, with about 70 per cent of the firms located in western Jamaica. In 2018, then Transport Minister Mike Henry announced a $50-million expansion plan for the MoBay Transport Centre, but this did not materialise.

TRANSPORT SERVICE

When contacted, Minister Davis told The Gleaner that the police would be meeting with transport service providers to discuss the way forward.

“It’s a concern that we as an administration do have, and we have been looking at how we can improve the flow of traffic, including an improved bus park,” said Davis. “But there is not much more that I can say on that at this time. However, it is a concern.”

Concerns were first raised by Dwight Crawford, councillor for the Spring Garden Division, at the St James Municipal Corporation, who named drivers associated with the contracted transport services among the key contributors to the long-standing traffic woes on Howard Cooke Boulevard.

“We need to have a meeting with the BPO sector to address the practice of their drivers to pick up and let off passengers in Montego Bay as they feel,” said Crawford at last month’s monthly meeting of the municipal corporation’s strategic committee.

He also charged that the practice adds to the indiscipline being displayed by taxi drivers, which is affecting other motorists and posing a threat to the safety of the passengers who are sometimes left in the middle of the thoroughfare.

However, it was revealed by the police that just 60 per cent of the public passenger operator vehicles are making use of the current facility, which contributes significantly to the congestion concerns.

Mark Kerr-Jarrett, managing director of Barnett Limited, operators of Barnett Tech Park, said that railway lands adjacent to the current transportation centre are ideal for the construction of a facility to match the rate of development in the parish.

“Montego Bay’s development has outpaced the current infrastructure, and the authorities need to start planning for the expansion of a proper transportation centre, as a matter of urgency, by immediately identifying lands. And I believe the arilway lands next to the current facility is ideally situated,” Kerr-Jarrett said.