The Government is moving to introduce the use of electronic warrants, which will be issued to motorists with outstanding tickets.

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, made the disclosure during his contribution to the debate on the Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in the House of Representatives on July 19.

The legislation will help to bring into effect the new Road Traffic Act.

Mr. Chuck noted that over the last five years, the police, on average, have issued more than 500,000 tickets per year.

“You have some indiscipline and lawless motorists who feel that these tickets can be ignored, because more than half of them don’t pay. They are collecting traffic tickets like confetti. The Government needs to respond to ensure that when the police (patrol) the roads and issue tickets, that they are complied with, because we need discipline and order on the roads,” he said.

https://jis.gov.jm/electronic-warrants-coming-for-motorists-with-outstanding-tickets/

eGovJa partnered with the Ministry of National Security, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and other entities to facilitate the launch of the Smart Check e-Ticketing system. It was officially rolled out on December 30, 2021 in the corporate area.

The system allows for, among other things, the issuing of traffic tickets electronically on spot.

To learn more, see the links below.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20211231/jcf-rolls-out-electronic-traffic-ticketing-system

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/JCF_launches_Smart_Check_E-Ticketing_System

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY2XOM4FTsc

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Hon. Fayval Williams has hailed the tabling of the Data Protection Bill in Parliament as a significant move in protecting the personal data of all Jamaicans.

Speaking in the House of Representatives recently, Minister Williams said “as data is considered the “new gold,” the passing of this Bill is critical to the Government’s attempt to delineate the rights of individuals in relation to the processing of their personal and sensitive personal data; and to establish the parameters within which their data should be processed by data controllers in both the private and public sectors.”

Read more on the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology’s website.

Infrastructure works under the first phase of the government of Jamaica’s GovNet project is far advanced and several ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have been connected to the network and critical projects are being supported. GovNet is a secure, wide area network infrastructure that will provide internet connectivity to MDAs to facilitate shared services.

Approval to undertake Phase 1 was granted in 2018 and it includes the buildout of a fibre optic network in the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) and St. Catherine over a three year period. The initiative is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and spearheaded by eGov Jamaica Limited (eGovJa) along with the National Works Agency (NWA) and other partners. Read more here.

Maurice Barnes (2nd right), CEO of eGovJa, shares a light moment with Christopher McKenzie (r), Department Head, Network Services at eGovJa, Luke Jackson (2nd left), Programme Manager for GovNet, and Michael Saunderson (l), Operations Manager at the National Works Agency (NWA), at the end of the third GovTechTak event on Friday, February 28, 2020.

GovTechTalk is a once-monthly interactive session hosted by eGov Jamaica Limited with members of the Government of Jamaica’s ICT community to discuss various initiatives. February’s session focused on the GovNet project.

Amidst the COVID-19 concerns, please see the public advisory from eGov Jamaica Limited.