Four Holmwood Technical High School students killed in Crash in Chudleigh - Opportunity to Implement Islandwide JUTC Bus System, JRC Passenger Trains along with Automated Traffic Ticketing System

Wednesday September 25^th 2013 will be a day many students at Holmwood Technical High School in Manchester will never forget.

This was the day when a Minibus carrying thirty (30) of their fellow classmates from Mandeville to Christiana collided with a Trailer in the Chudleigh Area at 8 am killing four (4) Holmwood Technical High Students as reported in “DAY OF HORROR - Four students perish in crash”, Published Thursday September 26, 2013 by Daviot Kelly, Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

According to the article “Holmwood weeps - Four students dead, several injured in accident”, published Thursday, September 26, 2013 BY ALICIA SUTHERLAND Observer staff reporter, The Jamaica Observer, the four (4) that died were:

1. Kimona Levy
2. Shaneka Muschette
3. Okeen Gordon
4. Tameka Peart

The first three (3) died at the Percy Junior Hospital in Spalding even as Tamara Peart who was being airlifted to the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew, died in transit.

The students of Holmwood Technical High School were so distraught that they couldn’t have classes that day, despite the Minister of Education Ronal Thwaites being on hand to comfort them as noted in “Education Minister Leads Team to Comfort Grieving Students at Holmwood”, published Thursday, 26 September 2013 18:05 by Douglas McIntosh, Jamaica Information Service.

JUTC Buses for Holmwood technical – Islandwide Bus service Next

Clearly speeches about what is to be done cannot do anymore as there can be no backpedaling as this has to be done with great urgency: implementation of an islandwide JUTC (Jamaican Urban Transport Company) as well as a complementary JRC (Jamaica Railway Corporation) Passenger Train Service to carry School children in the Country areas safely to School at a lower cost.

To this end, the Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites has requested JUTC (Jamaican Urban Transport Company) Buses to transport the students of Holmwood Technical High to and from school as state in “Education Minister asks JUTC to transport Manchester students”, published Wednesday, September 25, 2013 2:41 PM, The Jamaica Observer and “Education Ministry requests JUTC buses for Manchester students”, published Wednesday September 25, 2013 | 5:18 pm, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This has caught my eye as it re-emphasizes the need for JUTC Buses in the Rural Area to transport Children to School islandwide as a means of increasing Revenues as had been argued in a previous blog article entitled “JUTC SmarterCard Cashless System to be implemented in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 - Upgrade buses to use LPG Fuel to reduce Maintenance costs”.

This JUTC Rural Bus Service along with the Revival of JRC (Jamaica Railway Corporation) Trains had been promised back in December 2012 by the Minister of Transport an Works, Omar Davies as opined in blog article entitled “GOJ to revive the JRC Passenger Train Service - Minister Omar Davies' Cirque Du Soleil Worlds Away advises Railways and Islandwide JUTC Bus Service Not Fade Away”.

Increased vigilance by the Traffic Police on Minibus Operators in Manchester and Clarendon and the implementation of an Automated Traffic Ticketing System islandwide as was the plan earlier in April 2013 as described in my blog article entitled “GOJ to upgrade NWA's CCTV Traffic Monitoring Network to give Police more eyes in Private Places - The Da Vinci Code for Automated Traffic Ticketing System and 1984” are needed for the long term.

JRC Passenger Trains are the solution – Slow, Safe Boat to China

Trains can carry freight during the daytime and night time when no Passenger are around to be carried, an idea originally floated by then Minister of Transport Mike Henry as mentioned in my blog article entitled “JRC, Scotts Pass and Senator Mike Henry – Molly Wood Keeping up with the Kardashians”.

No disruption of the JATOO Minibus, Taxis services or Highway 2000, as the option to travel on a Train doesn’t affect commuters using  these services or motorists who want to get where they wanna go quickly. Trains are really a slow and safe boat to China, once the required safety protocols are in place to prevent a Kendal Crash.

Much as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science Technology, Energy and Mining have partnered to get Tablet into schools as stated in my blog article entitled “Minister Paulwell gives Parliamentarians and 20,000 Students in 30 Schools Tablets- Future in Science and Technology now rescued Indiana Jones and the Palace of Doom”, the Minister of Education can also partner with the Ministry of Transport to set a RFP (Request For Proposals) for a suitable contractor to revive the JRC Passenger Train Service to complement the JUTC Buses!

For now this wound in Holmwood Technical High School student body will take time to heal! You can help in the Healing process by contacting Holmwood Technical High via their website and making a donation.

Holmwood Technical High