Penny asks Trinidad and Tobago: Are you winning?

Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles at a media conference on Charles Street, Port of Spain, on December 30. - Photos by Lincoln Holder

OPPOSITION Leader Pennelope Beckles is asking the nation to compare what the current government has promised while in opposition, to what it is delivering in government as the opposition gave an official response to the imposition of higher fees and fines for traffic violations.

“You have the opportunity to compare,” she said during an opposition media conference at the opposition leader’s office on Charles Street, Port of Spain on December 30.

“It is easy to say ‘when UNC wins everybody wins,’ or ‘promise made, promise kept.’ (It is easy to say) to the public servants… that you will get all that is due to you, and when the time comes what do you do, you only give it to a select few."

She reminded the public that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s promised wins for everyone.

“…Clearly not the case,” she said.

The government announced a doubling of fines for several road traffic infractions to take effect from January 1, 2026, through Legal Notice 471 of 2025, which was published in the Gazette on Christmas Day.

Beckles again knocked the decision to increase the fines.

“While a lot of people were sleeping on Christmas Eve, the Christmas present this government gave to the people of TT was increased traffic fines. You would remember that in the budget debate the new landlord surcharge and several other taxes among others.

“We need to remember that when the honourable Prime Minister was in opposition, the honourable prime minister made it abundantly clear to the public that there would be no new taxes. Here it is: your Christmas present is new increased traffic fines.”

She also took the government to task for the manner in which the policy was put in place saying it was done “in the dead of night like Section 34.”

“Think about it seriously,” Beckles said to the nation. “You (the UNC) come into government and during the budget debate, the honourable minister of finance (says) “promise made, promise delivered.” Go through all of the promises and you see which ones the government really kept.

“The Prime Minister said to the public: no property taxes. The minister of finance said something else – he said they will actually be refunding TT citizens who would have already paid their property tax. I ask the people of TT: how many of you have received your refunds on property tax?

“This is a situation where governance is now done by bullying, threatening, abusing the people of TT. You must ask yourself if that is what you signed up for.”

Birchwood: Demerit system worked

MP for Laventille East/Morvant Christian Birchwood also recalled comments from the Prime Minister while she was opposition leader, when she said a UNC-led government would reduce traffic fines.

“If we take this in comparison to what is happening today, with respect to traffic violation, it is safe to say that the Kamla Persad-Bissessar of today is not the same Kamla Persad-Bissessar of months ago,” he said. “This government has proven that it cannot be trusted.”

PNM MP Laventille East/Morvant Christian Birchwood.

He said, in comparison to policies imposed by the former PNM government such as the demerit point system, road safety was not focused on punishing road users but to ensure that everyone got home alive.

“The policies were geared toward greater and stronger traffic measures to help with behavioural modification. This is primarily to get people home safely. One life lost in a vehicular accident is the loss of someone irreplaceable."

He said the demerit point system led to a 31 per cent decrease in fatalities – information that was supported by Arrive Alive, TT’s main road safety NGO.

“This proves that the measures that the PNM would have taken were actually working. They measured, they were fair, they were transparent and they were working.”

“It is noteworthy that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Arrive Alive identified solutions to curb reckless driving and they were all present in these systems implemented by the last administration.

“What we witnessed in very short order, the Prime Minister after assuming position, did not seek to complement or improve the system, she effectively disrupted the systems that were working.”

He said the removal of the demerit point system resulted in the immediate increase in road fatalities. He said the blame was on the shoulders of the Prime Minister.

“(The increase in fines) did not have to happen,” he said. “These international bodies (WHO) all mentioned that steeper or higher fines do not result in saving lives.”

He added that the Prime Minister implemented the increased fines in an an economy that has contracted in the past eight months and the effect of the fines would be significant on people in lower economic brackets, describing the fines as “harsh, unnecessary and impractical.”

“I raised this in parliament using a general example of a fine between $20,000 to $40,000 to low-income households and how that by itself could be similar to a death sentence. The finance minister went on to say that I was implying that the people of Laventille were law breakers.

“For a low-income family, a $2,000 fine for a blown tail light is not a lesson either – that by itself could be the difference between if someone eats or not.

“Imagine not being aware that your driver’s permit was expired for a week or something. Or maybe you are not aware that your insurance is up for renewal and you suffer a major blow financially. Given the current state of the economy, with massive firings, people are here trying as best as they can to survive and provide for their families only to be hit with double the amount of penalties and fines. I don’t think that to be fair – not at all.”

Imbert: Higher fines will clog courts

Former Minister of Finance and MP for Diego Martin North said most of the taxation regimes put in place by the government didn’t make sense, pointing out in particular the newly-implemented plans on higher fines for traffic violations, saying the only thing the government would get out of the new fines is people evading payment.

“The traffic courts are (already) piled up with thousands and thousands (of cases) there may be about 5,000 or 10,000 traffic matters inside there. Some of these matters don’t ever get called, there are so many.

“People just wouldn’t pay and they would go to court and argue and fight up. The police officers have to come and give evidence and say, 'Yes, I saw this person not wearing their seat belt.' Half the time the police don’t show up. They have many more important things to do.”