Departure

Less than a year after being appointed as chairman of the troubled Transport Board, Gregory Nicholls has abruptly resigned.

Nicholls, who took over as chairman following the Barbados Labour Party’s victory in the May 24 general election, tendered his resignation this evening.

In a brief response Nicholls confirmed to Barbados TODAY that he had vacated the post, simply saying, “Yes, I’ve resigned.”

However, when questioned as to what led to his resignation Nicholls offered no response.

In recent months, the chairman has come under heavy fire from Prime Minister Mia Mottley who declared she was dissatisfied with the way in which the Transport Board was being run.

In a meeting earlier this month at Government Headquarters with transport industry players, Nicholls came in for a particularly severe reprimand by the Prime Minister, Barbados TODAY has learned.

Prime Minister Mottley was especially miffed with Nicholls for reporting to the media that the Transport Board was in the process of buying electric buses before a deal had been finalised.

But during a press conference following that meeting, Mottley also publicly expressed her frustration with the Transport Board’s operations.

She told reporters then: “I am upset with what has transpired on a number of fronts and… when I could not be in the country because obviously, I was away, I asked two of my Ministers Cynthia Forde and Kay McConney to go and visit the bus terminals and to interact with commuters in this
country to make sure that things were going smoothly.

“I was horrified at the report which they brought back to me… and most of it relates to the conditions of the terminals, the inability to communicate with the commuters and the absence continually of buses.”

But at least two board members of the state-owned bus company who requested anonymity suggested to Barbados TODAY that Nicholls’ departure was on the cards.

One board member said: “I’m not surprised because the way things went in that meeting I was expecting it. The Prime Minister wasn’t pleased with how things were going and she let him know how she felt.”

Another director said Nicholls had been walking on eggshells for the last few months, suggesting that Nicholls had also angered Mottley by speaking out of turn.

randybennett@barbadostoday.bb