"I have heard that they want to get rid of Millwood, they want to get rid of the NTCS," he said.

"Having heard that, I went out and did my own investigation and learnt that two high-ranking politicians have applied for the routes that we now have."

Charge dismissed

Millwood did not say who the politicians were or to which party they were affiliated.

However, the JUTC has dismissed the charge, saying that applications will only be accepted after November when it is expected that all routes in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region will be back in the hands of the state-run bus company.

"What I do know is we have been getting a lot of enquiries from a number of NTCS bus operators who are interested to continue on their own, but the process will not begin until after the deadline that they got," JUTC's communication manager told The Gleaner yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel to address claims by the transport ministry of outstanding fees owed by the co-operative, the embattled Millwood said the Government continued to press them for the outstanding amount, even though a committee consisting of the Transport Authority, Island Traffic Authority, JUTC and the transport ministry found that the bus operators could not afford such an increase.

This Allen also denied.

According to Millwood, the cost to operate a Coaster jumped from $95,000 in 2007 to $286,000 the following year, while the $4,500 cost for each seat leapt to $13,600 in 2008.

The ministry said the co-operative still owes $38 million for 2009, a figure Millwood is also denying.

mark.titus@gleanerjm.com