Tackling: Unpaid invoice leaves modernized traffic law kocked away

GREAT BAY--A long-awaited modernization of St. Maarten's Road Traffic Ordinance reached the draft stage years ago but was never released after the company responsible for the work was not paid, Minister of Justice Nathalie Tackling told Parliament, describing completion of the legislation as the country's fastest available road safety win.

Tackling said the stalled draft represents a significant missed opportunity at a time when police and prosecutors are being asked to enforce traffic rules using legislation that does not adequately cover several modern driving offences or provide the legal foundation for new enforcement technology.

She told Parliament that the existing ordinance does not properly address the use of mobile phones while driving, speed cameras, fines issued through licence plate identification, modern breath testing, street racing, drifting or burnouts. It also predates the widespread use of e-bikes, e-steps, quads and trikes.

“Our road traffic ordinance is severely outdated it does not properly cover holding a phone while driving it has no basis for Speed cameras or for finding by license plate it's drunk driving Provisions come from before modern breath testing with no legal alcohol limits as we know them elsewhere in the Kingdom it barely touches leaving the scene of an accident it says nothing useful about street racing drifting or burnouts and it was written before e-bikes e-steps quads and tricks even existed,” Tackling said.

The Minister disclosed that an earlier modernization project had already brought relevant stakeholders together and produced a draft ordinance. The process, however, stopped before the draft could be released.

“Years ago a project was started to modernize this ordinance together with the ministry of Tia all stakeholders stop at the table a draft was produced and then the company that did the work was not paid and so the draft was never released and it sits there to this day a finished piece of the solution locked away over an unpaid invoice,” Tackling said.

The disclosure came as Tackling outlined the limitations facing traffic enforcement in St. Maarten, including the absence of breath-testing equipment, legal blood alcohol limits, speed-measuring equipment and a legal basis for several forms of technology-based enforcement.

Against that background, she identified resolving the stalled ordinance as the most immediate step available to the country.

“Of everything that I would tell you today this is the fastest win that is available to this country and I intend to pursue it and I would welcome this Parliament to pursue it with me,” she said.

Tackling did not disclose the value of the outstanding invoice during her presentation. After Member of Parliament Sjamira Roseburg asked whether the information on the invoice could be provided to Parliament, the Minister agreed.

“We're happy to provide that to Parliament,” Tackling said.

The Minister also directly appealed to Parliament to play a role in advancing the legislation, pointing to Parliament's ability to initiate legislation rather than waiting solely on Government.

“Writing law is your core task and nothing prevents this Parliament from taking the initiative yourselves and taking it here,” she said.

Tackling stressed, however, that releasing and passing a modernized ordinance would address only the legal foundation of the problem. The country would still need to finance the systems, equipment and personnel required to apply the new law in practice.

“A law on paper is just the beginning camera enforcement breath testing plague-based finding all of it needs equipment systems and people to make it a real thing,” she said.

She specifically linked modernization of the ordinance to possible camera enforcement, breath testing and licence plate-based fines, measures that currently face legal or operational gaps.

The Minister said Parliament should be prepared to look within the national budget for financial coverage, use its amendment powers or identify other funding avenues if it is serious about completing and implementing the modernization effort.

Tackling said she is open to serious proposals from any parliamentary faction and urged Parliament to pursue both the legislation and the means necessary to turn it into an effective enforcement tool.

Her position was that the unfinished draft offers St. Maarten an opportunity to restart work that has already advanced significantly, rather than beginning the modernization process from the ground up.

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