The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) should soon have 100 new buses on the streets.

But these will not be the double-decker buses which have been touted by Transport Minister Mike Henry. Instead, the new buses are being supplied by the Belgian firm VDL Jonckheere Bus & Coach.

The National Contracts Com-mission has already approved the purchase of the Volvo buses at a cost of just over $3 billion.

The money is being provided by the Belgian financial institution Commerzbank with one-third of the loan being interest free. The rest will attract an interest of 5.24 per cent.

In time for school

Yesterday transport ministry officials told The Gleaner that the single operator Volvo buses could be in the island in days and should be on the streets of the Corporate Area early in the new school year.

But the ministry officials were less confident about when the double decker buses would enter the fleet.

Last Wednesday, following the post-Cabinet media briefing, Henry told The Gleaner a sample of the double-decker buses could be in the island before year end.

But yesterday an official of the ministry said it could take up to nine months before the supplier, British-based bus manufacturer Alexander-Dennis, sends the sample to Jamaica.

Jamaican specifications

According to the ministry official, the supplier is now trying to outfit a bus based on Jamaica's specification and that unit will be shipped to the island as soon as it is ready.

In June, Henry visited Britain where he met with officials of Alexander-Dennis which is the leading manufacturer of double-decker buses in the United Kingdom.

Henry then announced that Jamaica was planning to introduce a hybrid bus that cuts fuel costs by 30 per cent compared to standard diesel engine buses.