Traffic wardens have finally been deployed to aid the police in maintaining law and order on the roadways.
The Guyana Police Force in conjunction with the Ministry of Home Affairs, yesterday launched the Traffic Warden Pro-gramme at the Stabroek Market Square, where seven of the 11 female recruits were in attendance.
The deployment of the wardens comes three years after legislation was passed in the National Assembly paving the way for the initiative to be implemented.
According to Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, the delay was due to their being a number of other more pressing issues in the way. Rohee, delivering the feature address at the launch, acknowledged that the programme has been years in the making but added that it was “better late than never.” He was adamant that his ministry will ensure that the initiative succeeds and expands throughout the coming weeks.
Rohee, who commended the traffic wardens to the public, encouraged citizens, and particularly road users, to respect the traffic wardens and to pay attention to whatever instructions or directions they might be given. He added that in accordance with the laws under which they operate, the wardens have the powers of arrest, so it is necessary for the public to support and respect them.
The minister also congratulated the police force for embracing the concept.
The Police Act was amended in 2011 to permit the appointments of traffic wardens to issue tickets and perform other traffic policing duties. It empowers the Commissioner of Police with the approval of the minister to appoint a person as a traffic warden. The functions of a traffic warden are to assist members of the GPF in the control and regulation of traffic and in the enforcement of the law relating to road traffic. A traffic warden may issue traffic tickets and perform duties similar to that of a member of the Police Force. The law also provides for a $30,000 penalty and a six-month period of imprisonment for any person who is convicted of failing to comply with the directions given by a traffic warden, obstructs a traffic warden in the execution of duty, or incites others to do the same.
Also speaking at the launch yesterday was acting Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud, who noted that the programme would expand and see the number of traffic wardens increase exponentially. He said that this is just one of a few initiatives that the police force has rolled out recently to deal with traffic congestion. “So I trust that this initiative will add to the service to our road users,” Persaud said.
Police Superintendent Paul Williams, who heads the Police Training Centre, explained that candidates were selected after a rigorous recruitment process, including an aptitude test, background check and medical evaluation. He said that the training of the wardens, which began in April and lasted for two months, was comprehensive.
Williams further mentioned that the 11 recruits were trained under the Police Act in areas such as police procedures and duties, how to exercise their power and dealing with summons and warrants, among others. They were also trained under the Police Standing Orders in areas such as taking statements and statement pre-paration, making entries in the station diary and occurrences of incidents in the occurrence book and how to preserve evidence at the scene of an accident.
The recruits will be placed on the East Coast and in Linden, near their residences, so as to encourage punctuality.
