Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck is once again urging Jamaicans with outstanding traffic tickets to pay up before the January 31 deadline.

Chuck was speaking at a Justices of the Peace Commissioning Ceremony on Thursday (December 29) at the Holiday Inn Resort in Montego Bay, St James.

A total of 43 justices of the peace (JPs)-designate from St James were officially commissioned as JPs during the ceremony.

“Justices of the peace, we must now ensure that the rule of law is respected in every way. There is nowhere you see the rule of law being disobeyed more than on the streets, the disorderly, and chaotic, behaviour you see on the road is something that the Government and you can’t tolerate,” Chuck said.

“In truth, the Government intends to do something about it and will do something about it.”

He noted that the prime minister has made the point that, on February 1, the new Road Traffic Act will come into operation.

“We have gone out of our way to say, you have traffic tickets, ensure you pay them by January 31. If you pay them by the 31st of January, all demerit points will be waived, and you can start afresh. However, if you fail to pay by that deadline, come February, warrants will be executed,” Chuck said.

The minister also said persons who have outstanding traffic tickets will not be able to renew their driver’s licence and will not be able to renew the motor vehicle that was a part of the traffic violation.

During his address, Chuck noted that, by January of 2023, more police personnel will be equipped with the new electronic ticketing system that will help greatly in identifying those with outstanding tickets.

“What is interesting is that, when you’re stopped now, the police (some) have a new electronic ticketing system where, when they punch in your name or Taxpayer’s Registration Number (TRN), everything about you will come up.  Everything, including if you have any outstanding traffic ticket, if there is a warrant out for execution, which means that warrant can be executed then and there on location.”

The minister said the machine will show that there is a warrant out and the inconvenience that will be accorded is not worth it and is therefore encouraging Jamaicans to pay up.

He shared that more than 2,000 drivers each currently have in excess of 100 outstanding traffic tickets.

“What’s interesting is that 80 per cent or perhaps 90 per cent of the outstanding tickets are people with four or less tickets. Many of them have forgotten so they need to check very soon. At the moment, we have over 2,000 persons with over a 100 tickets, we have just about 40 odd with over 500 tickets and these are the parties when they speak to me I say ‘man, you want some relief, go get a loan, get a loan and pay it up because if it is not paid by the 31 of January, no relief will be there’,” Chuck said.

Persons interested in checking if they currently have outstanding traffic tickets can do so by calling the Elleston Road police in Kingston.