THE Guyana Police Force is warning owners of heavily tinted vehicles to remove them or face immediate prosecution. On Tuesday, the police were observed in campaign mode as traffic ranks pulled in several motorists, especially those in Georgetown and its outskirts. Drivers were stopped and ordered to remove the dark tints from their vehicles.

Back in the early 2000s, Guyana introduced the law against tinted vehicles after the Queen’s College Old Students’ Association petitioned then President Janet Jagan, complaining about the heavily-tinted minibuses which were hiding wrongdoing.

At first the prohibition was to target public transportation, but was subsequently changed to include all privately owned vehicles. As it is now, only certain vehicles are permitted to have tints without the expressed permission of the Minister of Public Security, including diplomatic vehicles, and those belonging to senior government and high-ranking military officials.

As of recent, motorists have wantonly violated the law and many persons have reported seeing heavily tinted vehicles beings used to commit crimes. Traffic Chief, Dion Moore, said police launched a “general campaign” against illegalities on the roadways and vehicles with unauthorized tint will be stripped.

He said minibus operators will now come under the radar for illegal tinting and for violating their road service licences.
The road service licence for public transportation stipulates, among other things, that “there should be no markings, writings, etc.” on vehicles. Minibuses oftentimes are decorated with advertisements, slogans, artwork and pictures that can be considered lewd and/or offensive.