By Alicia Chamely
AMENDMENTS to both the Tobago House of Assembly legislation and to Sections 80, 82, 88A and 88D of the Motor Vehicles Road Traffic Act will be brought to parliament this Friday.
Attorney General John Jeremie announced the first sitting of the parliament for 2026 and legislation that would be brought to the Lower House at the press conference on Wednesday at the United National Congress headquarters in Changuanas.
Jeremie said the government was seeking to amend the THA legislation to increase the number of THA Secretaries.
Citing the recent landslide victory of the Tobago People’s Party (TPP), who won all 15 electoral seats, Jeremie noted an increased quorum was needed to handle the increase of THA business.
He said, “The Tobago House of Assembly amendment is designed to create and to increase the quorum for the conduct of business in the assembly. It is a short piece of legislation. It will not take too much parliamentary time, and we trust that it will not prove to be controversial. We look forward to the support of all parties in the Lower House on that measure.”
The second item of legislation to be brought forth in the Lower House, Jeremie said, were the amendments to Sections 80, 82, 88A and 88D of the Motor Vehicles Road Traffic Act.
Amendments to the Act were first announced by Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Eli Zakour at the cabinet press briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, on January 8th.
The amended Act makes it mandatory for traffic officers to issue fixed penalty warnings versus fines for certain violations.
Zakour explained currently officers had the discretion to offer warnings rather than fines, “but this is not consistent throughout Trinidad and Tobago, this (the amended Act) will be going to Parliament in the next couple of weeks, and once it’s law, it will be mandatory to give a fixed penalty.”
Speaking on Wednesday, Jeremie said amendment to the Act should not be seen as the government backing down on its mandate to implement stricter penalties for law breakers, but rather an example of the government taking note of the public’s opinions.
He said, “The Motor Vehicles Road Traffic Amendment, what I have to say is that the government has listened to the voices, which have been raised in the national community over the past week, week and a half, with respect to the increase in fines and penalties.”
“We have listened to voices, and what we propose to do in the amended bill is to impose a system which requires constables to give a mandatory warning with respect to certain offenses. Now, that is not to say that we are abandoning in any way, in any shape or form, our resolve, but we will implement our resolve with the level of humane activity that this government is known for,” he said.
Sittings of the Lower House were set to resume on Friday at 1:30pm at the Red House, Port of Spain.
