Four days after he went before the Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament and spoke about what was needed to make the operations of the Pubic Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) more efficient, general manager Ronald Forde has been sent on immediate leave.
His leave, which took effect on Friday, would carry him to the end of his five-year contract on February 28, 2017.
Speaking with the Sunday Guardian yesterday, Forde said before he was given the letter he was told verbally that because of what he presented on Tuesday before the Land and Physical Infrastructure JSC, the ministry was forced to do "damage control."
One of the main points raised by Forde was the idea of approaching Cabinet with regards to increasing fares. However, the ministry immediately released a statement saying that in order for an official fare increase to take effect, PTSC must first consult with all relevant stakeholders, including the public.
Forde said, "I only told the truth. We have to look at the input into the service and I had to be factual and truthful."
Forde warned other senior officials going before the JSC, in future, to be careful.
“Butter it up nicely, you cannot be factual or truthful otherwise you would end up on the breadline,” Forde said.
Asked if he would do it all over again, Forde said, "The only thing I believe in is truth, my mother brought me up that way."