"It would seem that the minister of transport and works has deve-loped quite a penchant for making statements and giving timelines on various things to be achieved within the transport sector," declared Robert Pickersgill, the opposition spokesman on transport in an interview with The Gleaner.

According to Pickersgill, Henry has presented the nation with conflicting statements about when the trains will roll.

Quoting from Henry's May 2008 presentation in the Sectoral Debate, Pickersgill argued that the minister had claimed that in only eight months the Jamaica Labour Party administration was signing off on arrangements with the Chinese government to facilitate a complete renovation of the rail service over three years.

'Mealy-mouth' approach

"The minister continued then, extolling the merits of his plans, and highlighting the seriousness of his administration's commitment. He juxtaposed his asserted accomplishments against what he described as the 'mealy-mouth' approach to the matter by the previous government," Pickersgill argued.

"Seventeen months have elapsed since May 2008 to date. By his own three-year timeline that the minister had outlined, several of the slew of milestones he described should have already been achieved and others should have by now been converted to tangible infrastructure in the ground for all to see and measure for themselves," added Pickersgill.

The opposition spokesman also pointed to a recent presentation in Parliament where Henry claimed that, over the past three years, plans have been moving ahead for the privatisation of the Jamaica Railway Corporation and the reintroduction of rail service in Jamaica.

Continuing negotiations

At that time, the minister also claimed that negotiations for the successful restart of the service were continuing.

Pickersgill charged that Henry's tune changed at a recent post-Cabinet media briefing where he claimed that all was in place for the early resumption of the rail service and that, if the tracks at the Sandy Gully were repaired, trains could resume operations immediately.

"These recent announcements seem to bear no relation in truth or in deed to the statements made 16 months earlier in the Parliament," claimed Pickersgill.

"Certainly, Minister Henry now needs to update the nation on the one true position. Clearly, both sets of positions cannot be true," Pickersgill said.