Athaliah Reynolds, Staff Reporter

Milwood

Ezroy Milwood, president and chief executive officer of the National Transport Coorperative Society (NTCS), is lamenting that bus operators are continuing to suffer at the hands of extortionists.

According to Milwood, NTCS drivers are forced to pay thousands of dollars daily to these extortionists who will often get violent if their demands are not met.

"On a normal day, by the time (a bus crew) gets to (a single) destination, they have to pay extortion fees of up to $1,000, sometimes four times within that one journey," said the NTCS boss.

"If you don't pay this extortion fee, it means that your windscreen (will be smashed) or your tyres will be slashed and, most likely, it will cost personal injury to the crews," he added.

Uncomfortable and frightening

Mr. Milwood told members of the Kiwanis Club of downtown Kingston, during a luncheon meeting at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, that drivers are often afraid to report these incidents to the police, as they fear for their lives.

"This is such a vexing, uncomfortable and frightening situation," said Mr. Milwood. "Our bus crews sometimes are so traumatised that we are very concerned that there is no spiritual chaplain that we could introduce them to that could help them overcome some of the experiences that they are facing."

For several years, a number of major towns, including downtown Kingston, Spanish Town, May Pen and Montego Bay, have had to grapple with the extortion racket.

Meanwhile, Mr. Milwood said it costs over $15 million a year to operate his fleet of some 164 buses, in addition to a mountain of other expenses including extortion fees and wrecker costs, as his bus crews are constantly preyed upon by the police.

The CEO of the privately owned entity further bemoaned the fact that he has been banned from affixing advertisements on his buses. Mr. Milwood noted that at present, only the state-owned buses operated by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company are allowed this privilege.

"How can the state-owned buses that are fully subsidised have the right to advertise and a private-owned bus (company) in a free market driven environment cannot advertise?" asked Mr. Milwood.

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com