Sinanan vows to double PTSC fleet

THE size of the PTSC bus fleet will be doubled, vowed Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan as he answered MPs' questions during the examination of budget 2023 documents at the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday. Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram had sought details of the fleet, and of management vacancies, the latter details which remained pending.

Sinanan said the PTSC fleet now stood at 385 buses, of which 244 were operational. Of the 385, some 141 buses were in some stage of maintenance while 21 needed to be disposed of, he said. The minister admitted to logistical challenges with obtaining parts and with shipping. Sinanan said the PTSC now has 24 different types of buses each requiring their own parts, even as he hoped to rationalise the fleet down to 2-3 types.

He said the PTSC will buy 300 more buses, electrical buses, as he aimed to bring the fleet to a total of 550 working buses. "We have 100 more buses than in 2016," he taunted the Opposition.

While Sinanan boasted of the PTSC servicing 79 routes, St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen said certain routes had been discontinued. Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes agreed, citing routes from Tabaquite to Piparo and San Fernando.

Ratiram querried a $5 million allocation which Sinanan said was for the computerised tracking of buses and to help passengers make e-payments. Ratiram said the PTSC had already fitted their buses with GPS, linked to software, and asked if that initiative had been discontinued. Sinanan said the newer initiative was a much more developed system to have customers buy tickets online and be more welcomed.

He promised a "total expansion" of the bus service, once the PTSC fleet totalled over 500 buses.

Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal recalled some $500 million spent under the Patrick Manning administration on a rapid rail survey and warned that a budget allocation for a national transport study must not become a "rapid rail number two".

On the Port Authority, Sinanan said a $1 million allocation was for a consultant to assist with the Government's intended private-public partnership initiative to run the Port of Port of Spain.

Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh asked if a $37 million allocation for salary and COLA at the Port Authority was for the 2014-2017 period, and had an agreement for that period been made. Sinanan initially said it was for 2014-2017 but backed off from giving assurances, saying the CPO had not signed off on any deal.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the matter was under review and likely sub judice. Sinanan said the Government subsidised 80 per cent of the "very expensive" inter-island ferry service, and spent US$16,200 per day on the Cabo Star, a cargo vessel.

Both Ratiram and Indarsingh pointed out deadly hazards on the Solomon Hochoy Highway, iron protruding dangerously at oncoming drivers and "the largest pothole in TT" at Exchange Junction into which five cars plunge each day on average, said the MP.

On the Airport Authority's (AA's) budget accounts, Sinanan said some higher allocations this year came after previous lockdowns due to covid19. "The airport is now ramping up." Imbert chimed in to say the Government had financially assisted the AA and Caribbean Airlines (CAL) during the lockdown time. Indarsingh asked if a $14 million allocation for repairs would include airport scanners, to which Sinanan confirmed the budget covered this equipment.

Sinanan said if the government uses more Lake Asphalt products that company's future will be in good hands, replying to Indarsingh's query about possible privatisation. He gave updates on the San Fernando Waterfront project, Diego Martin overpass and the Moruga fish port which he said was 50-60 per cent complete.