JUTC ban on preaching remains in effect

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) says the ban on preaching inside its buses remains in effect.   

However, it is admitting enforcement challenges.

Head of  the Franchise Protection Department at the JUTC, Radcliffe Lewis, asserts that despite recent reports from members of  the public about the practice re-emerging, it has actually decreased.

The ban took effect in 2012 following public complaints about the behaviour of  preachers in buses.

The complaint was that persons were being harassed by the preachers.  

Lewis acknowledges that there are unique challenges faced by the state run entity to impose the ban, but based on its investigations it has been working.

“I have 40 inspectors and they deal with 400 buses on a daily basis. So they cannot be on all the buses at the same time. Sometimes, the so-called preachers use their telephones and say exactly where we are…. However, the preaching is down dramatically.”

He added that despite their complaints against the preachers, it is the members of  the public who also make enforcement difficult.   

“We police it on a regular basis, we have to check on tickets , when we check a particular bus, and someone is on it preaching, he/she immediately sits as a passenger. But when you are not getting any information from the other passengers because they have strong religious beliefs and they often condone and even entertain these preachers in response by saying “amen, hallelujah” - that is the problem,” said Lewis, who was a guest on Beyond the Headlines.