Black Immigrant Daily News
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck is reiterating that there will be no further extension for motorists who fail to pay their outstanding traffic tickets by January 31.
Given that position by the Government, Chuck is advising motorists, where necessary, to exercise the option of taking out loans to pay off their outstanding traffic tickets in court.
“… You want some relief? Get a loan and pay it off, because if you do not pay it by the 31st of January, no relief will be there,” declared Chuck on Thursday at a swearing-in ceremony for justices of the peace (JPs) in St James.
Many transport operators had staged protests demanding a traffic ticket amnesty or a payment plan in order to settle the outstanding tickets they have incurred over time.
In early December, Cabinet gave motorists until the end of January 2023 to pay off their outstanding traffic tickets to have demerit points expunged upon the implementation of the new Road Traffic Act in February 2023, as well as the launch of the new Traffic Ticket Management System.
But some groups representing transport operators, such as the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS), have said the time should be extended for the payment of the tickets, and there were reports of motorists having their drivers’ licences revoked by the courts when they attempted to pay for large numbers of tickets.
Chuck reiterated to JPs the Government’s position on the matter, that the tickets should be paid by January 31.
“… But if you fail to pay by the 31st of January, come February, not only will the warrants be executed, but persons who have traffic tickets will not be able to renew their drivers’ licences, and will not be able to renew the motor vehicle licences that were part of the traffic violations,” he warned.
By early January, Chuck said a new electronic traffic ticketing system will come on stream to, among other things, allow members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to check for outstanding tickets.
“When they (the police) punch in your name and your TRN (Tax Registration Number), everything about you will come up, including if you have any traffic ticket (and)… a warrant out for execution,” he indicated.
The minister said the warrant can be executed on the individual at that moment.
Meanwhile, Chuck said motorists can contact the police to determine if they have any outstanding traffic tickets, as there is a full list of names.
“What is interesting, you know, is that over 80 (per cent), perhaps 90 per cent of the outstanding tickets are persons with less than four or less tickets.
“Many of them (those persons) have forgotten them, and didn’t pay them…, but we have, you know, over 2,000 persons with over a hundred tickets,” he informed.
Additionally, Chuck said there are over 40 persons with “over 500 tickets”.
He repeated his suggesting for persons to take out loans to clear off the sums owed before the implementation of the new Road Traffic Act, reiterating his stance that there will be no relief come February.
NewsAmericasNow.com
