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Penalties increased for damage to public property

Aug 07, 2009 News

Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Charles Ramson, yesterday in the House after several weeks of deferrals successfully piloted the Administration of Justice Bill which clearly defines property and increase the penalties attached to its damage public or private.
According to Ramson, the Administration of Justice Bill was seeking to update the legislation and make it relevant in the 21st century given that the Act was last amended in 1954 and was not applicable to present environment.
He noted too that there must be some measure put in place to curb the uncontrolled and wanton waste in relation to the use of the road.
In the extant legislation the public property was only deemed to be roads and bridges but with the amendments it will be extended to include items such as traffic lights which have been a source of concern for many. Some people had been questioning who will pay for them.
Should a vehicle damage public property then the owner or driver of the vehicle could pay up to $50,000 in fines as against the previous $150 and a sentence of 10 months in jail as against the previous three months.
The move by the Minister comes shortly after the Ministry of Home Affairs expressed its deep concern about the wanton damage being inflicted on public property as a result of motor vehicle accidents on the country’s roads.
According to the Ministry, the critical structures that have been bearing the brunt of these incidents have been the traffic light systems; bridges, utility poles and the lighting systems installed on them.
These items of public property, the Ministry said, have been constructed and installed at great cost to taxpayers and most of the damage has occurred as a result of the reckless use of the roads by inconsiderate drivers.
The Guyana Police Force has been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that effective use is made of Section 101(1) of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Chapter 51:02 and Section 61 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act Chapter 8:02 with Amendments (1998), to bring the errant persons to justice. The Home Affairs Ministry said that steps are being taken to cause the necessary legal amendments to be made to the relevant Laws to make them more effective.
The Ministry of Public Works had announced that the cost of repairs to damaged public property would be borne by the errant motorists or other perpetrators.
However, some of the damaged structures remain and it is not too clear if the perpetrators have been committed to repairing them.

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