New system to start on Oct 28

By Balford Henry

Observer senior reporter

balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com

DRIVING History Information (DHI) system — which promises to modernise and rid the sector of bad drivers, false documents, and insurance fraud — will be implemented on October 28.

The announcement came from Public Passenger Vehicle Modernisation Council (PPVMC) at the Four Seasons Hotel in St Andrew yesterday.

The PPVMC is an umbrella group which represents over 90 per cent of private investors in the public transportation system, in partnership with the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, the police, and the insurance companies. It includes National Council of Taxi Associations and the Jamaica Hackney Carriage Association.

The DHI system will create a database of information on drivers in the sector which will be available to its members in employing staff. The police will be able to trace unpaid traffic tickets, and false documents while insurance companies will be able to access information on the drivers and operators who seek insurance coverage.

Dr Morais Guy, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, who was the guest speaker at the launch, welcomed the initiative as a step towards “weeding out those who are bringing the sector into disrepute”.

“We are more than 100 per cent in support of this initiative and this is something that we have been yearning for, for over four years,” said head of Police Traffic Division, Senior Superintendent of Police Radcliffe Lewis.

Hurshell Cyrus, CEO of Alyjaz Business Solutions Limited, the business consulting firm which conceptualised the DHI, said the system will allow the police to access and monitor drivers, simply by using mobile phone devices.

“We are introducing a system in which, every time a (bus) owner changes a driver, it will be a requirement for the driver to be registered with a (transport) association, and it doesn’t matter which of the associations you go to, the registration takes place on the same system,” he said.

According to Professor Rosalea Hamilton, PPVMC chair, the initiative has received significant support from the insurance companies including Advantage General, Jamaica International Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the West Indies, Key Insurance, and British Caribbean Insurance Company.

Sophia Campbell, president of the Route Taxi Association of Jamaica (RTAJ) and general secretary of the PPVMC, said every operator/owner in the sector will need to get a DHI check done.

“An operator cannot beat this system. So I am encouraging all the drivers out there to come in and get registered,” she said.

“It will also purge the sector of fraudulent insurance coverage… All the government needs to do now is to invest in some internet ready phones,” she continued.