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Roland Butler, Opposition Education Critic and MHA for the District of Port
De Grave, says he is concerned about school bus safety after a fire
endangered the lives of several students on a bus yesterday in Mount Pearl.
Over the past year, the Opposition has issued several press releases calling
for an independent task force to be established to ensure school buses were
in a safe working condition. On February 23rd, June 30th,
and September 2nd, 2005, the Opposition called for government
action to ensure inspections and safety concerns regarding older buses were
addressed. Government did not respond to these releases.
"Over the past year, we raised the issue of school bus safety several
times without a response from government," said Mr. Butler. "The only action
taken by this government was to reduce the age of buses permitted in the
fleet from 14 to 12 years. It is our understanding that the bus that caught
fire yesterday was 12 years old. Instead of addressing all of the issues
presented by the Auditor General, government selected only one
recommendation to act upon. It is obvious that this isn’t working and I once
again call for an independent task force to be established to address school
bus safety and inspection issues.
"It was pure luck that nobody was injured in yesterday’s fire. This
should send a strong message to government that concerns raised by the
Auditor General regarding the lax inspection rules and age of buses must be
addressed. Instead of paying lip service to the issue of school bus safety,
I suggest the Minister of Education make this issue a priority and avoid
future situations. It should not take an accident or possible death to have
these issues addressed in the proper manner.
"For the fourth time in twelve months, the Opposition is asking
government to outline a plan to improve school bus safety. Yesterday’s
incident should be a wake-up call for government and I hope this will send a
strong message to move forward on the Auditor General’s recommendations in a
timely manner."
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