Independence Village
Stann Creek District
August 25, 2014
Dear Editor,
As I prepare for this school year I keep remembering the experience we had last year with the teachers/students bus from Independence to Bladen. I would normally take the bus to Bella Vista and vice versa. In my opinion, the bus is not road-worthy, as the tires were worn out and during the rainy days you need to be selective of your seat, or get wet.
On the way back to Independence one day, we experienced a blowout. Concern was mentioned to the person in charge of transportation at the District Education Center (D.E.C.), who promised to look into the situation. I don’t know if the owner was contacted, as the bus looked the same way.
The bus experienced a second blowout (back wheel), according to the driver, just before he reached Swasey River. The blowout was bad enough to cause the exhaust pipe to break in two. The bus “turtled” into Bella Vista, where then the driver advised us to take a taxi to Independence.
I went on leave just a few days after this incident. I took the opportunity to speak personally to the personnel of transport at D.E.C. The official made a call to the owner, who promised to remedy the situation. I don’t know what happened after that, as I continued on my vacation.
I went to pick up a co-worker on the last day of class and lo and behold, the bus parked right in front of me. Guess what, the condition of the bus looked the same.
At this point in time, I am BEGGING the Transport Department to please inspect the buses assigned to do school runs.
Hope to ride safely to school from now on…
Sincerely,
Mario Bo
