With the Lower House set to reopen on Friday, Attorney General John Jeremie SC has announced the Parliamentary agenda for the upcoming session, with three major pieces of legislation to be addressed.
As a response to public outcry due to the increase in road traffic fines and penalties, the Attorney General said the government will seek to amend The Motor Vehicles Road Traffic Bill in Parliament next week.
“The government has listened to the voices which have been raised in the national community over the past week, week and a half, with respect to the increase in fines and penalties. Now, our first priority as a government is to return discipline and order to a state of collapse, and that includes doing something about the lawlessness that has taken place on our streets. We have listened to voices, and what we propose to do in the Amendment Bill is to impose a system which requires constables to give a mandatory warning with respect to certain offences.”
AG Jeremie said another piece of legislation to be treated with is the Tobago House of Assembly Amendment Bill.
“The Tobago House of Assembly amendment is designed to create an increase in the number of Secretaries and to increase the quorum for the conduct of business in the Assembly. It is a short piece of legislation. It will not take too much Parliamentary time, and we trust that it will not prove to be controversial.”
He said the government will also introduce The Law Reform, Zones of Special Operations, Special Security and Community Development Measures Bill, which is intended to continue to deal with crime and criminality.
“So that instead of a national State of Emergency, we propose to concentrate on hot spots. There is legislative precedent. I think I can say that without going into the Bill. There is legislative precedent for what we propose to do. There are checks and controls, there will be judicial oversight, there will be some time constraint in respect of how long a designation of a particular zone of operation, how long that designation can last.”
The Attorney General was speaking at a United National Congress Press Briefing on Wednesday.