Parent alleges that school-bus driver is an alcoholic and calls out Transport Board for putting students’ wellbeing at risk

A parent is expressing concern about the National School Bus Service after witnessing a driver in an allegedly intoxicated state.

The woman says that she is disappointed with the Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board and the school-bus management team.

The parent reports that, for weeks, she had been hearing complaints from other staff members of the School Bus Service, but she never thought it would hit that close to home.

For two consecutive days – Tuesday,  November 2, and Wednesday, November 3 – the woman says she observed the intoxicated driver, who dropped off her child.

“Who is responsible for screening drivers [in order to] make sure that these drivers are fully capable of getting the nation’s children to and from school?” the upset woman  is asking.

She wants the management of the school-bus system to explain why a reportedly alcoholic worker who – she alleges – was deemed unfit to drive any government vehicle was allowed to drive students to a prestigious private school.

“Why is it that Mr. Hubert Jarvis and his team [are] doing such an awful job at running the ABTB (Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board)? What is wrong with these people for crying out loud?” the woman asks.

The woman alleges that children are being placed at risk, and if the Transport Board is desperately in need of drivers, it should hire them and make sure the proper process is followed.

“The last thing we need right now would be something [serious] happening which could be avoided,” the parent says.