Most Jamaican drivers possess general licences

MORE THAN 80 per cent of drivers in Jamaica have been certified with general drivers' licences, a revelation that had members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) struggling to come to grips with that reality.

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD), the agency responsible for issuing drivers' licences, reported that of the 514,935 drivers' licences granted in the category of private and general, 78, 935 were private.

"This ratio should set off alarm bells," said committee chairman Dr Omar Davies.

The ratio has, in fact, set off alarm bells for a senior technocrat in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

Financial Secretary, Dr Wesley Hughes, who attended the PAC meeting, said he was also concerned about the ratio.

Davies argued that a person seeking to obtain a general driver's licence had to be conversant with the mechanical aspect of the vehicle, in addition to his/her driving skills and knowledge of the road code.

Issued on competencies

Rosalee Brown, commissioner of the IRD, who rushed to the defence of her department, said the IRD only issued general drivers' licences based on competencies that were approved by the Island Traffic Authority (ITA).

"So whether or not they were properly issued, we just have to deal with what we get from the ITA and issue the licences as required by them," Brown told the committee.

Committee member Fitz Jackson suggested that the head of the ITA be summoned to shed light on the issue.

And a call for periodic testing of licensed drivers was again discussed in Gordon House.

Ronald Thwaites, central Kingston member of parliament, reminded the committee that he had moved a motion for holders of drivers' licences to be retested.

"A test which is far more mechanised, far less subject to being corrupted, and you ensure that (drivers) are either fully competent or weeded out of the system," he insisted.