Phillips says transport sector in crisis after Ocho Rios–Kingston bus protest

Opposition spokesman Mikael Phillips told the House during the 2026 Sectoral Debate that Jamaica’s transport and mining sectors are in deep trouble, with transport now the sharper concern for weary commuters and licensed operators.

Phillips said that over roughly ten years and four transport ministers he has repeatedly pressed for a clear diagnostic and a workable national transport policy. Without that framework, he argued, uncertainty and poor efficiency have worsened, leaving state and private operators openly competing for passengers and fare income across the island.

On 20 April 2026—barely a month before his address—private bus operators on the Ocho Rios to Kingston corridor stopped running in protest against the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC). They said JUTC had moved onto routes they are licensed to serve, using artificially low fares to create an unfair market and chip away at expected route revenue.

Phillips said the dispute underlined the need for coherent policy and raised wider questions for the administration. He asked whether profitable routes are being targeted for state takeover, whether JUTC still holds an exclusive franchise for the KMTR under the Public Passenger Transport Act with a duty to provide adequate, safe and modern service, or whether it has abandoned that role.

He also pointed to the Transport Authority’s legal role in setting fare structures and questioned how the Government could justify undercutting cabinet-approved rates, thereby squeezing the same licensed investors it had authorised to operate.