Cabinet approves printing of traffic tickets

Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon announced last Thursday that Cabinet had given its no-objection to the printing of traffic tickets at a cost of over $17M under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

From November 1 increased fines were implemented through the new ticket system which carries fines ranging from $5,000 to $7,000. A traffic ticket before was $150.

Recently the traffic department commenced a zero-tolerance campaign to curb road lawlessness following the increased number of road deaths as a result of accidents. Some of the new measures that the police are focusing on are speeding, boom boom boxes in public and private transportation, tint, breaches of traffic light signals, unlighted motor vehicles, overloading, stopping within thirty feet of a corner, and stopping on no parking signs.

The department has made it clear that actions will also be taken against pedestrians who are not adhering to traffic light signals.

The department will be publishing photographs and video clips of errant drivers and will also re-examine the issue of defective tyres. All mini-bus and hire car drivers will be re-examined through licensing and certifying officers.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Secretary noted that another large contract for the docking and repairs to the MV Torani to cost $32.1M was also given Cabinet’s green light.