HENRY

Transport and Works Minister, Mike Henry, has intervened to ensure a quick resumption of the high level of police patrolling that existed on the Highway 2000 corridor at the onset of the toll road system locally.

Mr. Henry, who visited the scene of the dramatic, six-victim tragedy on the Clarendon to St. Catherine leg of the highway recently, was so moved by the tragic circumstances of the collision, that he summoned head of the National Road Operating and Construction Company (NROCC), Ivan Anderson, to a meeting the following morning to see how NROCC could assist in ensuring that routine patrolling of the highway was taking place. NROCC acts on behalf of the Government in the operation of the Highway 2000 road network.

Containing speeding

Following an outline from Mr. Anderson of the circumstances behind the inadequate patrolling of the toll roads for some time now, the minister gave directives for NROCC to take additional steps to support the police in containing the excessive speeding there. This i the toll highways, like all other thoroughfares nationally, form part of the normal road network for patrolling by the police traffic department.

As a result, NROCC, which had initially provided the police traffic department with four specialised patrol cars for use on the highway, will be securing two additional units to replace two of the initial units, which had over time been 'written off' in accidents. The two new units are being procured locally and will be outfitted for deployment on the highway within two weeks. Additionally, one of the four initial units, which had been out of service for about a year, has been repaired and returned to the toll highway through assistance from NROCC.

The minister also instructed Mr. Anderson to speak to the police about the non-deployment of four specialised highway patrol bikes, which were provided for the traffic department from earlier this year. A mechanical fault was said to have been detected on the bikes, but the minister has ordered that a corrective approach be taken to the need to get the units on the highway. The cycles had been earmarked for the Portmore leg of the toll network, inclusive of the busy Marcus Garvey Drive corridor, where some amount of congestion has been a factor during peak hours.