Transport Authority And Island Traffic Authority Open New Offices In Savanna-La-Mar

The Transport Authority has partnered with the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) to establish a $16-million satellite office and a retrofitted examination depot in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Robert Montague, said that the facilities, located on Barracks Road, will boost service delivery to stakeholders in western Jamaica.

“The $16 million was money well spent because the level of service being provided cannot be quantified,” he noted while addressing the official opening of the offices on Thursday (February 6).

He said that the Government is committed to transforming the public transport sector, noting that a 16-point action plan implemented as part of the process has been reaping success, with several objectives already achieved.

Key among these strategies are the opening up of all routes; giving persons the ability to craft their own route and apply for it to be registered; providing for renewal of licences on owner’s birth month instead of in April; and giving commuters greater access to public passenger vehicle (PPV)-related information and reporting tools.

The Minister said that efforts are being made to enhance and strengthen the licensing, legislative and monitoring capacity of the Transport Authority.

“Over the years, we have had an industry that started out for many people like a hustle. So we have to get the business to be a business. It is our job as Government to do everything that is possible within the law and to sometimes even change the law to make the situation better for the majority of the people,” he noted.

The Savanna-la-Mar satellite office is a one-stop shop for the testing and licensing of PPV and commercial carriers.

It is one of three such facilities established to extend the reach of the Authority’s services to the parish of Westmoreland.

Managing Director of the Transport Authority, Cecil Morgan, said that the satellite office has the capacity to process 3,000 applications.

“What it now means is that 3,000 persons from the region won’t have to go to Montego Bay anymore. We decided that we are going to take the business to our customers and that is what we have done,” he said.