MoBay’s loader men now transport marshals

WESTERN BUREAU:

COMMANDER of the St James Police Division, acting Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels, has tasked the 19 newly trained public transportation marshals, formerly known as loader men, to show respect to everyone using the public transportation system.

The men, many of whom have had as much as 30 years’ experience working in the Montego Bay Transportation Centre, were trained under a programme initiated by the police and coordinated by Corporal Jacqueline Williams of the Barnett Street Police Station in partnership with the Community Safety and Security Branch. They were exposed to best practices in conflict resolution, customer service skills, personal hygiene, and personal safety and security over three-day period.

“My charge is for you to be respectful and if you don’t first respect yourself, you can’t respect others,” said Samuels at the graduation ceremony at Faith Temple Assemblies of God Church Hall on Thursday.

“I am going to show you respect and the only thing I expect in return is for you to show me respect,” the acting SSP said.

The transportation marshals were each presented with a branded Oxford shirt and a polo shirt as their uniform, for identity.

Samuels encouraged them to trade in their cut-up jeans to further enhance their image in the public space.

“Even though you get shirts, you need to invest a little more in yourselves, meaning we want you to look like you are going to work and if you put yourself together, I guarantee you that the passengers will look at you differently, the drivers will look at you differently, the police will look at you differently and the whole public at large will appreciate your service,” he argued.

“What we want to do is prove to Jamaica that here in St James we can be orderly and this is something that we can spread to the rest of the country.”

Come Monday, the newly trained and uniformed transportation marshals will be visible in the Montego Bay Transportation Centre carrying out their regular duties.

The initiative was lauded by Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon, who shared that the marshals are critical to the growth and development of the parish.

“We need your support to bring about order. What you do I am very familiar with it, and for the veterans in the room who have been doing this for about 35 years, they used to carry me to Rusea’s High School in Lucea,” Vernon shared.

He noted that since being appointed mayor, he has been reaching out to all the people who perform unique duties ... and that through their various businesses “we can develop a plan to fix the challenges that exist in each of these industries in the parish”.

Douglas Myrie, who has 30 years’ experience providing services as a loader man, says he started out as a conductor working the Lucea to Montego Bay route, before changing his role.

He said the new programme that provides training and uniform is an important initiative.

“It provides the opportunity for us to cooperate with each other and with the uniform it shows who are the persons working the transport centre,” Myrie said.

He told The Gleaner that sometimes when they call passengers to put them into a bus, they run and ‘style’ them as ‘dutty bwoy’.

“With our training and uniform, and when we wear our uniform, it will show that we have a legitimate business inside the park. I believe this will allow us as marshals and the commuting public to approach each other much better,” he said.

Further, Myrie said while the income to load a bus comes at different rates, the job helps them to provide for their families.

“I am able to earn a living from it. Sometimes it’s not big, but we give God thanks,” he said graciously. “The money we earn from each bus varies because it depends on the fare each passenger pays for their journey.”

Myrie noted that drivers will pay the cost of a passenger fare. However, he was quick to point out at times that fare is split among two or three loader men who helped to get passengers into their vehicle.

Astley Turner, a conductor-turned-loader man says he made the transition after his boss migrated to the United States.

“This is what I am living off right now. My family is comfortable living from the little we manage to save from my earnings,” Turner told The Gleaner.

According to him, while the payment is not structured, he remains proud that he is still able to support his children at all levels of their educational pursuits.

“I have a son who attends Hopewell High School and every morning I am able to give him his lunch money,” said Turner. “ I have two others who are attending primary school and I am doing well.”

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com