UG buses to take students directly along East Coast route
….in new breakthrough arrangement

UNIVERSITY of Guyana students who live along the East Coast of Demerara, will, from Monday, benefit from an enhanced arrangement with the minibus service at the Turkeyen Campus in which they will no longer have to travel to the bus parks at nights.
Instead, the students would be able to travel from the campus to their destinations, east along the public road from Turkeyen.

According to a release from the University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS), newly elected president of the body, Jafar Gibbons, and his executive team, met with the leaders of the UG bus service and, stemming from the meeting, both parties agreed that transportation to and from the campus can be difficult to access at specified times.

They also agreed that persons living along the East Coast find it difficult in acquiring transportation which can be burdensome. It was noted too that walking out of the Turkeyen Campus can prove to be dangerous, as persons, in some instances, were attacked and even robbed, in the nearby streets, on the outskirts of campus.

To alleviate these concerns, the Students Society, along with the bus service, agreed that, as of Monday, October 21, 2019, students heading up the East Coast east of Turkeyen, would not have to travel to the city.

According to the release, the students would only have to congregate at the bus shed until the required numbers to fill the bus are met. The students would then take any of the buses provided to facilitate the transport.

The buses will take the students along the East Coast route, all the way to Victoria and the service will be provided from 16:30hrs to 21:30hrs.
Jaffar expressed elation at the “breakthrough” arrangement and he noted that he was aware that the students would embrace the move with much excitement as do the executives of the student body.

Jafar, who is the former leader of the Students’ Action Movement, added that his focus will be primarily on students’ representation, ensuring their welfare be top priority for the academic year.
He also lamented how unsafe it was to have students walking out the campus late at nights and still had to wait on the public road for transportation, something he said was safer to do on the campus.

According to the release, the bus service also communicated that there was a 10-bus shuttle system that was in place after 16:30hrs. It meant that there were 10 buses available to take students off the campus, on a regular basis.
“While we accept that that number might be insufficient at peak hours, we are asking students to not walk out to the road, but instead, wait for the buses at the bus shed,” said Gibbons.

For Gibbons, the move was part of a few promises he made while on the campaign trail.
He said that he would continue a relentless fight to ensure that students are involved and represented at the nation’s highest tertiary institution. “He also vowed to help the administration, in any way possible, in the delivery of services provided at the university. He also expressed his gratitude to the administration which was displaying its willingness to work to enhance the welfare of the students,” the release stated.