Transport operators threaten Gov't with $billion lawsuit

Private transport operators' advocate Egeton Newman has served warning that the Government could be hit with a $1 billion lawsuit should the trial judge rule in favour of the private transport operators today.

The operators of buses are contesting the Jamaica Urban Transit Company's (JUTC) exclusive right to a single lane on Mandela Highway during peak hours. The Supreme Court is today expected to hand down the ruling.

"Based on the fairness of our arguments, we are pretty confident that justice will prevail," asserted Newman, the head of the Transport Owners Development Sustainable Service. "Should our argument be successful, the Government can expect a billion dollar claim from litigants."

Newman said that since the JUTC instituted the single lane system on the Mandela Highway some 20 months ago, the state-owned entity enjoys an unfair advantage over private operators in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport area.

Private transport operators have, in the past, successfully brought suits against the Government.

Ezroy Millwood's National Transport Co-operative Society (NTCS) benefited from a $2.5 billion payout after the Government unlawfully terminated an agreement with the society and handed bus routes it operated over to the JUTC.