Justice Minister Delroy Chuck is urging motorists to pay their outstanding traffic tickets ahead of the new Road Traffic Act, slated for implementation on February 1, 2023.
Chuck indicated that there will be full enforcement of the Act intended on bringing order to the chaos on the nation’s roadways, which claimed some 480 lives in 2022, seven less than the 487 recorded the previous year.
Additionally, he noted that a new Smart Check E-Ticketing System is coming into play to replace the existing manual traffic ticketing system used by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
“[We] will have a new electronic ticketing system and when they punch in your name or your Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN), everything about you will come up, including if you have any traffic ticket,” said Chuck.
“What is important [about the ticketing system] is that warrants can be executed then and there because the machine will show that there is a warrant out and the inconvenience that will be accorded is not worth it,” he added.
The Minister was speaking at the official commissioning of 43 newly appointed Justices of the Peace (JPs) for St. James held at the Holiday Inn Resort in Rose Hall on Thursday (December 29).
“So, I hope that none of you (Jamaicans) have any outstanding traffic ticket. If you do please pay it by the January 31,” he urged.
In the meantime, Chuck encouraged the new JPs to play their part in helping to correct Jamaica’s disorderly behaviour and illegalities in every sphere. He said they should become leaders in their communities and workplaces in the drive to make Jamaica a nation of progress.
“Urge your parishioners to cut out all the wrongdoings because if we can do that then there can be no doubt that Jamaica can be a better place,” Chuck stated.
“So, I urge all of you to be a beacon in your community, a beacon of civility, decency, honesty and be the person of character that others would want to emulate,” he added.