By Jerome Henry, ContributorTHERE ARE some members of this Government who have never failed to be comical. There is Minister Roger Clarke who has been talking about catching the "Two Foot Puss" ever since he took up the position of Minister of Agriculture many years ago. He trots out this speech every now and then but to date the "Two Foot Puss" still reigns supreme.
Then there was the former Minister of National Security & Justice, The Honourable K. D. Knight who spoke about "hanging them (murderers) high". He however spent over ten years as Minister of National Security and Justice but was not able to hang one murderer.
Not to be outdone we have also had The Honourable Peter Phillips who in 1997 was speaking about the imminent return of the rail service. There were even advertisements being run in the print and electronic media to this effect just prior to the 1997 election. Of course these adverts were at the taxpayers' expense.
The latest Minister to join the foray is Minister Bobby Pickersgill with a comical announcement that the Government is considering modifying commuter buses with the intention to have them running on rails. I am led to ask a number of questions on hearing this news:
If the Government has not been able to get the trains to take back the train lines, can they realistically hope to get buses to take to the lines.
Will the buses using these lines be the NTC buses only and if not, who will bear the cost of the conversion for the privately owned buses.
Which buses would he put on the rail and what of the commuters who would normally embark and or disembark along those bus routes?
A significant part of the efficiency of running a rail service stems from the fact that a train carries many times the number of passengers that a bus can carry in one trip (using multiple coaches) hence it has a much lower cost per person transported per trip. How will this be achieved with buses on the rails?
Since the infrastructure left of the old rail service will be of little or no value to us without the trains running, why not allow the prospective investors to come in and use it without a cost? The benefits would be employment, taxes to the treasury, removal of heavy trans-Jamaica carriers from the roadways, longer road surface life, safer roads, cheaper means of transporting bulk goods and farm products, reduced traffic congestion and the list is un-ending.
Somebody should bring back Mr. Pickersgill to his senses. I wonder if Mr. Pickersgill would use his personal funds in a venture as the one he is suggesting.
Jerome Henry writes from Buff Bay, Portland.
