New board to drive enhancement of transport sector

The transport sector in Barbados is about to shift gears.

And the change will be spearheaded by a new Board of Directors at the Transport Authority, led by chairman Adrian Grant.

The changes were announced this afternoon by Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources, Ian Gooding-Edghill, during a press conference at the Barbados Water Authority’s headquarters in the Pine called to introduce the new members of the board.

Janice Boyce is the new deputy chairman and the other members are CarolAnn Thornton, Rashida Beckles, Andrew Willoughby, Adrian Bayley, Keisha Small, Permanent Secretary in the ministry Mark Cummins, Lynda Holder, Edwin O’neale, Kenneth Best and Inspector Rodney Inniss.

Gooding-Edghill said the new board would be tasked with repositioning public transport and enhancing the sector’s image among other things.

He said they would be responsible for policy decisions.

“Obviously the board will have to reposition and re-evaluate public transport to a far higher level of appreciation as a major factor in our national, social and economic life. Coupled with that would be the establishment of public transport as a major contributor to national activity, cohesion, integration and stability.

The minister said the board would play a decisive role in putting the sector “on a route never yet travelled” by such an institution.

He said details of that expansive and transformative mission would be revealed in the near future.

While Gooding-Edghill predicted that the new board would perform credibly, he cautioned them that it would not be easy.

“I think we have a selection of persons that will make the Transport Authority proud and we also have persons who will continue to respect the practice of good governance at the board. I had a quick meeting with the board and I did stress the importance of good governance…” the minister said.

“We have to go the route of empathy. We have to be very sensitive and at the same time we have to be very, very, very transparent.”

In giving an update on some of the initiatives in the sector, Gooding-Edghill revealed that the Transport Augmentation Programme (TAP) was going very well.

He said on any given day there was a minimum of 69 private operators taking part in the programme. In addition, there has also been heightened interest in joining TAP and other applications were being processed.

Gooding-Edghill said the planned integration of public service vehicles (PSVs) into the Speightstown terminal had already begun. He said the timeline for the move had been pushed back due to inclement weather, but he gave the assurance it would be completed soon.