An­na-Lisa Paul

Even as the in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to an al­ter­ca­tion in­volv­ing a traf­fic war­den and an off-du­ty po­lice of­fi­cer con­tin­ues, the Min­istry of Works and Trans­port (MOWT) is re­mind­ing the pub­lic of the con­se­quences for ob­struct­ing war­dens in the ex­e­cu­tion of their du­ty.

In a re­lease yes­ter­day, the MOWT said, “Any con­duct or the dis­play of be­hav­iour by any mem­ber of the pub­lic that amounts to in­ter­fer­ence with the pow­ers of a traf­fic war­den and an ob­struc­tion in the ex­e­cu­tion of their du­ty must be con­demned and dealt with in ac­cor­dance with the law.”

Un­der the Mo­tor Ve­hi­cles and Road Traf­fic Act (MVR­TA), Chap­ter 48:50 a traf­fic war­den is ap­point­ed by the Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice to as­sist in the con­trol and reg­u­la­tion of road traf­fic and en­force­ment of road traf­fic laws.

“A traf­fic war­den in uni­form has the au­thor­i­ty to is­sue fixed penal­ty no­tices to mo­torists for traf­fic vi­o­la­tions,” the MOWT said.

Sec­tion 10A(3) of the MVR­TA states that “any dri­ver who fails to com­ply with the di­rec­tions giv­en by a traf­fic war­den while on du­ty or ob­structs a traf­fic war­den in the ex­e­cu­tion of his du­ty, or aids or in­cites any oth­er per­son not to com­ply with the di­rec­tions of a traf­fic war­den or to ob­struct a traf­fic war­den in the ex­e­cu­tion of his du­ty, is guilty of an of­fence and is li­able on sum­ma­ry con­vic­tion to a fine of $10,000 and im­pris­on­ment for six months.”