POLICE on the East Coast of Demerara, amidst a noticeable increase in tinted vehicles on the roadways, have intensified their no-nonsense approach and are arresting motorists found to be flouting the regulation.

This campaign has resulted in at least 40 defaulters being interdicted and their tint removed over a two-week period last month.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) is reminding motorists that they should not allow themselves to be induced into believing that the tint prohibition has been lifted and defaulters will be prosecuted.

The tint restriction was imposed several years ago, as part of the effort to curb crime, as it was widely believed that bandits hid kidnapped victims and conducted other illegal activities in tinted motor vehicles.

Cases of sexual assault and harassment of young girls taken from school were also reported in heavily tinted minibuses and taxis, prompting Government to prohibit the tint, which action triggered protests against it.

However, recently, several minibuses, taxis and private cars, including those owned by policemen, have resumed putting on heavy tint on their vehicles, much to the dismay of top officials of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

A senior officer in the Police ‘C’ Division, in an invited comment, told the Guyana Chronicle that drivers are being given only one chance to comply, when caught with dark tints, or face prosecution.

Concessions, sanctioned by the Ministry of Home Affair, are, sometimes, allowed for vehicles imported with mild tints in the passenger seating area, providing the driver and front seat passenger windows are untinted.