Contributed
I write after spending some time, from 5:00 AM to 10:00 PM at Sabina Park Traffic Court, resolving 2 outstanding tickets. There were thousands of people turning up.
That experience reflected deep systemic failures in how Jamaica manages motor vehicle administration.
What I witnessed:
- Unmanageable backlog: I saw a citizen with ∼300 tickets. Another recently publicized case of an elder who had 40. This is not access to justice - it’s congestion and warehousing.
- Administrative errors: One of my tickets was dated for a year that had not yet occurred. It was dismissed, but only after a full day lost from work and family.
- Lost records: My second ticket could not be located until late evening, forcing an unnecessary 17-hour wait.
The larger issue - MPSEM:
This Motorized Pyramid Scheme Economic Model pushes Jamaicans into car dependency, fueled by poor public transport, which extracts revenue through ticketing fines, tolls, duties, spare parts, and fees.
The psychology of “More man have kiar, more man have gyal” still shapes policy, but ordinary citizens bear the cost.
Recommendations:
- Digitize and decentralize*: Put all tickets in an online system with search, payment, and error-checking before court dates are issued.Allow payments at remittance agencies.
- Restore public transportation*: Fund reliable standardized buses and begin a phased restoration of passenger rail services.
- Modern economies prioritize movement of people over movement of cars.
Commission an independent study: Task UWI Social Sciences, LSE, or Harvard with auditing MPSEM’s economic and social impact, including who benefits from fines, tolls, and import duties.
Jamaicans, overall, are not “bad drivers”. We are navigating a poorly planned system on top of bad roads.
I am sure there are many willing to provide full support to reform efforts.
I look forward to the people's response and to seeing concrete steps toward a fairer, more efficient system.
Michael Spence
Some good points but a glaring inaccuracy is that Jamaicans are not bad drivers. Also both sides of the political fence will not confront things like policies to forces less cars and proper public transport, similar to things like hefty fines for dumping /littering etc . Such things though will bring huge benefits to the economy are pressuring to the people immersed in a culture of indiscipline and who seem to be the majority therefore could hurt the politicians at the polls. Those moves will be viewed as taking away of freedom and oppressive in a society of anything goes.
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