Setting toll road record straight

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Following the tabling of a presentation on the Toll Roads (Tyre Deflation Device) Regulations in Parliament recently, some assertions were made by MP for South Western St Catherine, Mr Everald Warmington.

These assertions were that (a) the toll roads were not gazetted and (b) the police have no authority to issue traffic tickets on that thoroughfare. I wish to repudiate those assertions and to set the record straight.

Section 2 of the Toll Roads Act, 2002 defines what a toll road is. It is designated as such, by a ministerial order, pursuant to Section 8 of the act, which also empowers the minister to make orders to specify that tolls may be charged.

The procedure of designating a toll road, as outlined in the act, was first carried out by means of the order on April 8, 2002, which was gazetted and which provided the overall designation of the current toll roads. That order was subsequently followed by two related orders on July 7, 2006 and April 11, 2012, each dealing with different sections of the toll roads and authorising the collection of tolls.

As to the question of the authority of the police to issue tickets on the toll roads, allow me to highlight the fact that Section 3 (1) of the Toll Roads Act stipulates that the provisions of the Road Traffic Act shall apply to a toll road, except as otherwise expressed in the said act. The police, therefore, possess the legal authority to issue tickets to users of the toll road who are in violation of the provisions of the Road Traffic Act or its regulations.

Under Section 9 of the act, the Toll Authority is required to have all orders made under Section 8 available for inspection by the public. Members of the public may, therefore, view these orders at the offices of the Toll Authority at 11A-15 Oxford Road, Kingston 5, during business hours.

DEVON DICK

Chairman, Toll Authority