Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle

The United Progressive Party (UPP) is cautioning the Gaston Browne Administration against removing the bus-transportation subsidy for schoolchildren, warning that it would be shortsighted and insensitive at this time. Instead, the Party is recommending that Government provide direct fuel assistance to public-transportation operators to prevent additional costs from being passed on to parents.

“If the Government can provide fuel concessions to support the fisheries industry, it should also consider targeted fuel subsidies for these operators,” says Political Leader Jamale Pringle. “Our bus operators provide an essential service, transporting children to school and workers to their jobs. They deserve support, too.

“Rather than placing parents at risk of paying more for school transportation while they struggle with rising food prices, electricity bills, and the general cost of living, the Government should explore a targeted fuel subsidy for buses – at least for the next 12 months,” MP Pringle explains. “This would help keep fares affordable.

“The solution is not to make parents pay more, but to help bus operators manage rising costs. Government must adopt policies that protect working families and recognize public transportation as an essential service,” says Pringle, who represents the rural constituency of All Saints East and St. Luke.

“At a time like this, when our children have limited opportunities for studying outside of Antigua and Barbuda, any Administration’s priority must be affording them the widest opportunities here, at home,” MP Pringle adds.

“The Browne Administration finds the resources for many, many things that are less important. It spends millions on projects that show no tangible benefit to tax-paying parents,” he says. “Therefore, their children’s education should never be the first sacrifice after years of government excess.”

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Pringle Defends Children’s Right to Access Education and Calls for Fuel Subsidies for Bus Operators.