Bus driver to be charged

Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer

The unauthorised driver of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus that plunged over a precipice in St Ann Friday night is expected to be charged with vehicular manslaughter, police investigators told The Gleaner yesterday.

The decision to charge him, one investigator said, was taken after several motorists came forward and gave statements that he was "driving carelessly".

"Eyewitnesses who were driving behind the bus (have) told the police what they saw. Based on that, he will be charged," said the police source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The unauthorised driver, who turned himself over to the Spanish Town police with a broken leg on Saturday, will be transferred to the Moneague Police Station, where he will be charged.

A 16-year-old female student of Bridgeport High School was killed and 50 persons injured after the JUTC bus, which was carrying a church group to a retreat, ran off the road in the Faith's Pen area of St Ann.

Up to late yesterday, JUTC Corporate Communication Manager Reginald Allen said all but 17 of the injured passengers had been treated and released from hospital.

Minister orders report

Transport Minister Mike Henry has ordered that a preliminary report on the accident be placed on his desk today.

This report, Henry directed, should include the "background to the mishap and specific measures being proposed to prevent a recurrence".

The JUTC has since confirmed that the driver of the bus at the time of the accident is employed to the company, but has been barred from its premises pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.

The hearing was related to his driving, but the state-owned company has refused to give details.

However, reports indicate that he was allowed on the bus by the designated driver, who is a friend.

Allen could not say how the suspended employee ended up behind the steering wheel but made it clear that both men are facing "serious and significant sanctions".

"They contrived to do something that flies in the face of our rules and policies," Allen told The Gleaner yesterday.

He said the JUTC will focus on the welfare of those injured in the accident.