THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE INEFFICIENCY at the South Camp Road Traffic Court is indescribable. This, coupled with the callous attitude and rudeness of most of the personnel, make Dante's Inferno look like heaven.
To plead not guilty to a charge takes maximum three minutes. You plead not guilty, you are given a date for trial and you leave. The catch to all this is that it takes sometimes seven hours before your name is called. This entails the loss of an entire day of productive work to some businessmen who refuse to pay bribes; it means thousands of dollars lost.
The same applies to those who have to travel long distances to attend court, their total travelling time could be four hours or more and a waiting time or seven plus hours, clearly shows the gross inefficiency of the system.
The simple solution is to:
Check the individuals who intend to plead not guilty and have a clerk assign them a court date for trial, they can then plead.
Individuals who live or work in distant places but intend to plead guilty should be tried first;
This would rid the court of the "ketchy shubby" method in which they now operate. It may require a little more work for the rude prima donnas who work there, but it would make life easier for all.
Individuals are charged with breaking stop signs after 11 p.m. in today's crime-ridden Jamaica. It is sheer madness and suicidal to stop at that hour of the night. One proceeds with caution but stopping is definitely at one's peril.
An elderly lady was charged for having one working headlight. She explained that she was not aware that the bulb was not functioning. This could be caused by a wire coming loose due to potholes. The judge gave her the maximum fine. The alternative is to leave the car to thieves and find alternative transportation home.
The owner of a pickup van with regular plates was charged with not having CMC plates. The owner explained that the pickup is not used for commercial purposes and at the time of prosecution, all he had in the pickup was one cartoon box. He was still fined.
Chief Justice Wolfe should run seminars for the traffic judges and court personnel. At present the traffic court is a travesty of justice.
I am, etc.,
MARY ANN BELL
Christiana PO
Manchester
