Ministry targets errant drivers, corruption

At the end of this year the Ministry of Works and Transport will implement new amendments to the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act to target errant drivers and corruption.

Marvin Gonzales, the ministry's director of legal services, said yesterday that the amendments, which include the red-light camera enforcement system, the demerit point system, the new fixed penalty and the new ticketing system, will have a positive impact in years to come.

Addressing stakeholders at the ministry’s initiative UTurn Ahead –Modernising the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, hosted by the TT Chamber in Westmoorings, Gonzales said the new system would be very difficult for people to manipulate.

The Transport Commissioner will impose the new system at the beginning of 2020, he said, and drivers will have to comply.

“We are now targeting those persons who may have manipulated loopholes in the system – those who don’t pay their ticket fines because they simply believe the system is so archaic and dysfunctional that they would not be caught.

“Those who wish to pay can now pay at all approved TTPOST outlets throughout the country, as well as utilising their online platforms, and those who don’t pay will face consequences.

He said the new system also addressed corruption.

"During one analysis we recognised that officers are being bribed to erase tickets from the system. This new system will stop all this.”

Gonzales said the current system is not working and is outdated, which caters for corruption to take place.

While the current Transport Commissioner will go on pre-retirement leave in December, he said a new one will be appointed in January.

“When the system is operationalised by the end of this year, it is going to impact positively on drivers' behaviour. We will continue to see a decline in road fatalities and serious accidents in the coming years. Road fatalities have decreased significantly, with a reduction of 50 per cent from 2008 to 2018."

He said statistics showed a drastic reduction from 222 road fatalities in 2008 to 112 last year.

"However, there was a little spike this year when compared to the other years.”

Gonzales said the ministry is working with the police to have a better understanding of what may have contributed to the increase in 2019.

Overall, he said, “The legislation is forcing administrative changes within the licensing division. It is forcing the licensing division to embrace technology, because the new system cannot function or operate outside of a highly technological administrative environment.”

For the new system to be seriously implemented, all agencies, including the police, the courts and the licensing division must be digitised.

“From 2017 to date, before we move toward proclamation, we recognised a lot of changes had to take place, and we have done so. A lot of our systems are now digitised, where it will allow for ease and transfer of all information from one agency to another. And because of that, it now puts the licensing division in a position to offer a lot of online services. All information is now on a digital platform.”