The clampdown by the police on heavily tinted public passenger vehicles is threatening to spark an island-wide withdrawal of service by members of the National Association of Transport Operators (NATO). Michael Morgan, president of NATO, is contending that the police are not operating on a level playing field as Jamaica Urban Transit Company as well as JUTA buses are allowed to have tinted windows.
Mr. Morgan added that there is nothing in law which prohibits PPV vehicles from having tinted windows. He said if the police continue to target NATO members, normality cannot be guaranteed:
“In 2009 the former Minister gave the go ahead for all public passenger vehicles carry a 35 per cent tint. As far as we are concerned there is no amendment in that law to say that it no longer exists,” argued Mr. Morgan. He said he wants to know what right the police have to be changing the state of that law. He is also contending that the JUTC and the JUTA buses, which all have ‘red plates’ seem not to be targeted by the police.
And amid the threat by NATO, the police will intensify their clampdown Tuesday. On Monday 23 heavily tinted buses were seized and licence plates removed from 10 others in Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Trelawny and Portland.
Senior Superintendent Radcliffe Lewis, head of the Police Traffic Department, expects full compliance by PPV operators before the end of the week.
“By Friday of this week, all buses in the corporate area will be completely free of tint,” said SSP Lewis. SSP Lewis contended that the 35 per cent tint is not clear when it is raining or at nights. He said that irrespective of the grade (of tint) they will all be removed. He was speaking on RJR’s Beyond the Headlines on Monday.
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