E-warrants to feature in traffic ticket management system

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has indicated to a team from the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) that, as part of efforts to increase public order on the nation’s roads, timelines are being finalised on the roll-out of an e-warrant feature for the Traffic Ticket Management System (TTMS).

In a statement, the PSOJ said its president, Keith Duncan, last week met with Chang and Major General Antony Anderson, the commissioner of police, for further discussions around public disorder on the roads.

The meeting, the second in an ongoing push by the PSOJ, was held with the endorsement of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association, along with other private-sector stakeholders and members of civil society.

“Minister Chang shared the specific time-bound road map of work being undertaken by the Ministry of National Security in collaboration with the other ministries, departments and agencies to restore order on our roadways,” the PSOJ stated.

Thursday’s discussions took place just over a month after a day-long lockdown of the public transportation system in the Corporate Area, which had been precipitated by the murders of a taxi driver and a Jamaica Urban Transit Company worker, as well as the more recent mowing down of two pedestrians by a taxi in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew.

REDUCE TIME PREPARING WARRANTS

In its statement, the PSOJ said Chang had highlighted the continued work on the TTMS and noted the attention to the resourcing of the Court Management Services with laptops, desktops, printers, and other equipment to support TTMS operations.

The PSOJ said it was expected that the issuance of e-warrants will commence with traffic courts in Kingston, St James and Westmoreland. The feature should significantly reduce the amount of time spent on preparing warrants for traffic violators who fail to show up for court.

“The merits of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Technology Branch and the efforts of the police in addressing public disorder on the roads were underscored by the police commissioner,” the statement read.

“He also provided insight into the continued efforts to revamp the police force through the use of technology as a multiplier of the JCF’s capacity to enforce the laws to maintain public order and public safety across the island.”

Duncan welcomed the advances made by the Ministry of National Security and said he would be meeting with Transport Minister Robert Montague on November 12 to hold similar discussions.

The PSOJ said the stakeholders agreed that it was important to create a mechanism for monitoring the restoration of public order on the roadways and were looking forward to seeing whether such a monitoring mechanism could be encapsulated in the wider ongoing deliberations towards bipartisan and multisectoral consensus around crime.