– to amend laws to deal with reckless drivers, damage to public property
THE Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday expressed concern over the damage being caused to public property as a result of motor vehicle accidents and is taking steps to amend the relevant laws to ensure that action is taken against the perpetrators.

The Ministry yesterday said, 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 Section 61 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act Chapter 8:02 with Amendments (1998), to bring the errant persons to justice.

These Acts, dealing with damage to property resulting from motor vehicle accidents and improper use of motor vehicles resulting in accidents, according to the release, will be amended to make prosecution of offenders more effective.

The release stated that the critical structures that have been bearing the brunt of the damage from these accidents are the traffic light systems, bridges and utility poles and the lighting systems installed on them.

The Ministry reminded that these public properties have been constructed and installed at great cost to taxpayers and urged that more caution be exercised in the use of the roads.

Government expended over US$20M in 2007 to install a modern state of the art traffic light system in and around Georgetown. Several of these installations were damaged costing millions of dollars in repairs over the last two years.

Recently the Ministry of Public Works, which has responsibility for public safety, announced that it would be redesigning certain intersections with a view to reducing the amount of damage being caused by the reckless use of vehicles.