KINGSTON, Jamaica — Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Kamina Johnson Smith, said today that the framework to be introduced under the provisions of the new Road Traffic Act (RTA) will reduce the opportunity for human error and corruption to interrupt enforcement.

“The facilitation of disorder without accountability must change now, and the urgent need for new legislation and robust enforcement by technology, as well, cannot be overstated,” she said.

Johnson Smith, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, was speaking in the debate in the Senate on the Road Traffic Act, 2018, which was finally passed by the Senate yesterday after almost five years in development.

“I wish to make it abundantly clear that this bill and its amendments are not about revenue. They are not about discrimination against taxi drivers or any group; and is not about politics,” Johnson Smith told the Senate.

She explained that the ultimate goal of the legislation is to ensure that all road users can use the roads safely and in a responsible manner.

The bill was passed without any further changes, after the six amendments which were approved in the House of Representatives on November 13, when Minister of Transport and Mining, Robert Montague, closed the debate in that House, were approved yesterday.

These include making owners responsible for unpaid tickets accruing from toad breaches picked up by traffic cameras by their drivers, as well as withdrawing the requirement for drivers to always have their driver’s licence with them.

The Bill will next go back to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel (CPC) for the final draft, after which it will be sent to the Governor General for his assent before being gazetted, and implemented early next year.

Balford Henry