Officers of the Licensing Division have been accused of “terrorising” the people of Tobago through tickets and road exercises.
The accusation was made by Farley Augustine, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), who said hundreds of tickets were issued to motorists over the weekend and he received scores of complaints about the exercises.
At a media conference at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, Augustine said while he supports that the Division has a responsibility to ensure that everyone abides by the regulations and the laws as set out for the use of motor vehicles on the roadway, “However, there are some serious challenges that I must echo on behalf of the people of Tobago and certainly on behalf of this Tobago Government. In the first instance, it should never be that we have hoards of officers coming up from Trinidad to terrorise Tobagonians that should never be the case, that should not be how they operate.”
Augustine added, there must be a measure of respect in how they do their duties.
He said the THA has been observing and getting reports that drivers have been pulled aside for what they believe is an infraction and had them waiting in some instances over 30 minutes without instructions.
He said there are instances where the officers can use discretion as there are discretionary powers assigned to the officers.
“That seems to not exist in Tobago’s case, it seems there is some kind of mad rush to break some record in terms of the amount of monies collected through these tickets.”
He claimed that this type of activity does not occur all year but rather during Tobago’s peak season.
Transport Commissioner Clive Clarke said his officers were there to save lives and to promote safety.
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