All not on board with free JUTC rides

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness's promise of two months' free bus rides for students on Jamaica Urban Transit Company buses has been praised by some parents as a lifeline in hard times, but dismissed by others as an election season 'bribe'.

"If yuh can do it fi two month, yuh can do it fi di whole school year," said Marcia Thompson, a vendor in Half-Way Tree.

"Dem just waan di photo op and di thanks right before election. Is we tax money same way," Thompson told THE STAR. Thompson argued that funding is often found for short-term initiatives, but not for long-term relief.

"Mi nuh understand how dem always find money quick-quick fi certain things, but when school fee or books raise, dem tell we budget tight," she said. "It's like dem tink we stupid. School costs nuh happen one time, it constant, every single month."

However, construction worker Devon Henry welcomed the move.

"Mi have five pickney and fi know say for two months free, that save me a lot," he told THE STAR, explaining that four of his children attend school in Kingston, two in high school and two in primary school; his youngest is in basic school. Henry lives in Gordon Town, rural St Andrew, and pays $180 in taxi fare from Tavern to Papine, then almost $200 from Papine to Half-Way Tree.

"That's just one trip," he said. "When yuh work it out for five children going and coming every day, the money fly outta yuh pocket. And is not even a guarantee mi get paid every fortnight, so sometimes mi haffi stretch whatever little mi have just to send them to school."

"Mi clap Holness for dis. Every little bit count, and mi glad fi di help," he said, adding that he can use the money to give them more lunch money.

"Sometimes we haffi choose between bus fare and food. This give mi a chance to do both." But for taxi operator Chris Morgan, the initiative "is straight gimmicks".

"Election close, so dem a throw free bus ride like sweetie. But mi ask miself, if dem can do it now, why dem couldn't do it long time? It's not like children just start need bus fi go school."

"Parents haffi plan fi 12 month, not two," he said. "So if di government serious, mek it a year-round ting or at least half di school year." He opined that short-term measures often fade without addressing deeper issues.

"Right now it just feel like dem testing we memory, two month of help and then nothing after," Morgan said. "By di time we a struggle again, election done and promise gone."

However, Sandra, a hairdresser in Cross Roads, suggested that because the system is new, it needs to be tested.

"You can't run a bus service on pure good intentions, it haffi be sustainable. If it work well for those two months, then maybe it can expand, and that's how proper policy is built," she said.

However, she pointed out that parents would still have to find money for other things including lunch money and books.

"Free bus is nice, but it's only one part of the struggle. Give the children proper resources, feed them in school, and then you'll see real results. Until then, this just feel like a patch."