Tyre resupply delays not the fault of DPT Minister

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Transportation Minister Walter Roban dismissed allegations of systemic problems in the Department of Public Transportation as “erroneous and malicious”.

He said a shipping error was to blame for a lack of tyres that saw 18 buses taken off the roads.

The shortfall in public transportation drew criticism from the Opposition this week.

Shadow Transport Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said it was evidence of a “systematic problem at work”.

Mr Roban insisted yesterday: “These delays were caused by a problem with a parts supplier that was in no way the fault of the DPT management and staff.

“I want to be clear that as of [Thursday June 21], this matter has been resolved.

“We quickly moved to solve the challenge and a solution to ensure this doesn’t happen again is being put in place.”

A shipment of 300 tyres expected to arrive on May 25 was delayed after it was sent to Philipsburg, St Maarten instead of Philadelphia in the United States, a Government spokesman stated.

An emergency order of 100 tyres was placed to solve the short-term shortage as soon as the error was discovered.

The original order of tyres is expected to arrive on the Island on July 5.

Said Ms Gordon-Pamplin: “One would have hoped that the priority before the tourist season would have been to ensure Bermuda’s infrastructure was ready to handle increased demand.

“But having just spent a cool million on a tourism plan and having to acknowledge there are too few buses to meet visitor demand is just one more sign of a government asleep at the wheel.”

Her comments drew the ire of Mr Roban, who criticised The Royal Gazette for not seeking a response to them from Government.

“I will not allow an accusation to stand that the Government and DPT staff aren’t committed to service,” he said.

“This Government will always be open with the public as much as we can if we anticipate problems with service delivery. We are always about solutions and the management and staff of DPT responded quickly once this arose.”

Tourism Minister also accused Ms Gordon-Pamplin of distorting facts regarding the tourism plan, saying the plan cost $182,365, significantly less than “a cool million.”

“We made a statement about how much it cost,” Mr Furbert said. “The member of parliament knows how much it cost. She is basically not telling the truth. I think it’s wrong for her as a Member of Parliament.”

A Government spokesman announced there would be service interruptions between 2pm and 7pm on Wednesday as more buses were out of service than normal.

He said that 18 vehicles were out of service waiting for new tyres with a shipment due to arrive yesterday.

Meanwhile a spokeswoman for Meyer Shipping said cruise ship visitors in Dockyard hadn’t suffered because of the transportation shortage.

“They do their best to make sure the tourists are not affected.

“We haven’t had any huge delays here, and the tour buses have been no problem at all this week.”

The issue of spare part shortages arose last year. As many as 50 buses were reportedly out of service on any given day during the cruise ship season.

Then Transportation Minister Derrick Burgess announced in February that the system of ordering spare parts had been revamped and the buses were ready for the coming tourist season.

“The tyres are here, each bus has six tyres and I’m told we need to change them three times a year, which means we need roughly 2,000 tyres a year.”

In May, Government announced that three local vendors — Bermuda Tyre Company, Hilal Enterprises Ltd and Discount Tyre and Wheel — had been awarded a contract worth just over $1 million to supply tyres for the Bermuda Police Service, the Public Transportation Board, the Bermuda Fire Service and Public Works.

Premier Paula Cox said the new contract would last until March 2013 and save Government $170,000.

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