KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s ruling administration has come under sharp criticism from opposition transport spokespeople over stalled efforts to regulate the island nation’s fast-growing ride-hailing sector, even after Cabinet recently signed off on a foundational national policy to guide future rulemaking.
Transport Minister Daryl Vaz confirmed to Parliament on May 5 that the country’s Cabinet had approved the draft national ride-hailing policy, which is intended to serve as the backbone of a full formal regulatory framework for app-based ride services operating across Jamaica. Vaz noted that ride-hailing oversight remains a top priority for the government as it works to modernize Jamaica’s public transport ecosystem and guarantee safe, accessible travel for all residents. A cross-functional steering committee has already been set up to oversee policy development and facilitate input from all transport industry stakeholders, he added, with the next step being the drafting of a policy Green Paper that Vaz expects to table before Parliament within four months.
But Opposition Transport Spokesman Mikael Phillips has rejected the government’s latest announcement as nothing more than another empty promise, arguing that the administration has consistently failed to follow through on past pledges to rein in the unregulated sector. Speaking during the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 13, Phillips pointed to the high-profile killing of Jamaican schoolteacher Danielle Anglin, whose death in May 2024 after using a ride-sharing service sparked widespread public calls for urgent safety oversight of the sector. Anglin’s remains were found in Salt River, Clarendon, a tragedy that Phillips calls a damning indictment of the government’s years-long failure to regulate the rapidly expanding industry.
Phillips reminded lawmakers that exactly 12 months prior, Vaz stood in Parliament and made a formal pledge to immediately implement a full legislative framework for ride-hailing services. He argued that the latest announcement of Cabinet-approved policy lays bare the government’s contradiction: if the guiding national policy did not exist a year ago, how could Vaz have promised immediate legislation then? He questioned whether the current policy framework will ever actually translate into enforceable law, warning that Jamaicans could be facing another year of empty rhetoric and hollow commitments that leave commuters without critical safety protections.
Beyond public safety risks, Phillips emphasized that the government’s inaction is also causing severe financial harm to licensed, law-abiding transport operators across the country. Members of leading transport groups including the Jamaica Union of Travellers Association (JUTA), the Jamaica Association of Contractors and Allied Limitations (JACAL), MAXI, and traditional hackney carriage operators are being squeezed by unfair competition from unregulated ride-hailing services, he said, with many facing mounting financial losses as a result of the government’s systemic inertia on the issue. Phillips called the ongoing situation a total abdication of government leadership and a public disgrace, urging Vaz to immediately table the long-promised full regulatory framework for parliamentary debate and approval to protect both the lives of Jamaican commuters and the livelihoods of legitimate transport industry workers.