PROTEST OVER STATE OF PARK FOR TERMINUS
DISCOVERY BAY, March 24, 2025
Dozens of taxi and bus operators who ply the routes starting from and terminating in Discovery Bay, St Ann, withdrew their service Monday morning, expressing upset over the state of a parking area identified as the terminus for their routes and parking of their vehicles.
The operators ply routes to Duncans and Falmouth in Trelawny and St Ann’s Bay and Brown’s Town in St Ann.
Late last year, the taxi operators were moved from a gas station and commercial complex from which they had been operating illegally for years, in Discovery Bay.
(Taxis on the road beside the designated par, in background, waiting on passengers)
They temporarily relocated to an area of unoccupied land owned by Discovery Bauxite, across from the new Total gas station.
But the taxi operators have also been parking on the road beside the designated park and have been causing congestion there and on the main road.
They have pointed out there is no shelter and no sanitary convenience in the area they have been using. Furthermore, they said that the designated parking area is now a dustbowl.
Carlton Ricketts, Councillor for the area has been in dialogue with Discovery Bauxite and their predecessors Noranda to secure use of the land. He says the St Ann Municipal Corporation (SAMC) has been moving to formally get the land assigned to the Corporation and then to complete a development plan. Councillor Ricketts said work will start soon to pave the area and put in basic infrastructure for the taxi park.
“Council is moving afoot to make a good park for the Discovery Bay area and taxi operators,” he said. However, he would not say when that would be.
