Phillips
Peart
TRANSPORT MINISTER Dr. Peter Phillips yesterday contradicted the junior minister in his Ministry, Dean Peart, that people had been employed to the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) on the basis of their affiliation to the governing People's National Party (PNP).
According to Dr. Phillips, he had given strict instructions to employ workers solely on the basis of merit. The criteria applied to all applications were based on educational competence, the medical and required training and competency tests for the respective worker, he said.
With regard to the unskilled labour utilised for janitorial and other ancillary services, Minister Phillips said the policy has been to recruit people from the communities in which the depots are located and the criteria of merit was the same.
In a statement yesterday, Dr. Phillips said this remains the policy of the company and at no time had he, as Minister, been advised of a departure or that anyone had sought to use their position to exercise a bias in employment.
The statement came in the wake of yesterday's Gleaner report which quoted State Minister for Transport, Dean Peart as saying a key functionary of the PNP employed to the JUTC had used her position to influence the employment of supporters of the party.
Mr. Peart had told The Gleaner when it was discovered what the employee was doing, she was removed from the position. A vice-president of the Human Resource was subsequently brought in to oversee employment. Mr. Peart's statements came against the background of reports of continuing employment of persons on the basis of their connection to the PNP.
Dr. Phillips said that since its inception the company had reassigned managerial and other level staff in a continuing effort to achieve greater efficiency. He said this would continue until the company was satisfied with its organisation and operation.
He said he wished to assure the public that the JUTC's mandate was to operate without fear or favour and any political bias as it sought to fulfil its mission of providing a world-class bus service for Jamaica.
