Approximately 720 licence plates from taxis and minibuses have been seized islandwide since August 12, and more than 329 tints have been removed, says traffic chief, Superintendent Radcliffe Lewis.

"We have received disturbing information that conductors, drivers, schoolboys and schoolgirls were having sex in these vehicles, and our duty as police officers is to protect the children. So, as a result, we intensified our efforts to rid these PPV vehicles of tints."

Lewis added that some of these vehicles were used to commit criminal acts and noted that no tint would be spared in their operation.

Criminal acts in buses

Lewis, who took over the traffic department on August 12, said criminal acts were sometimes being committed inside the buses without the police's knowledge.

"We have had instances where three gunmen took one of the tinted buses from Portmore, rob it all the way to Hagley Park Road, past police along the way, and nobody could say anything."

Yesterday, the traffic chief issued a stern warning that all "elaborate sound systems" would also be removed from public-passenger vehicles, starting on Monday.

Meanwhile, managing director of the Transport Authority, Daniel Dawes, described the removal of tints as "critical to the safety of the commuting public, particularly children".

He says, "Under Section 15B of the Transport Authority Regulations (2005), the installation of curtains, screens or other similar devices on a public-passenger vehicle, which prevents inward view, is an offence," and persons found in breach would be prosecuted.

Licence plates removed

The removal of tints has impacted on taxi and bus operators in the island. Ezroy Millwood, president of the National Transport Co-operative Society, said more than 50 buses in his fleet had their licence plates removed, and have had to pay a fee of $7,500 to have them returned.

"Most of the members, they can't even afford it, so we have to be paying some of these fines just to assist members," he said.

Millwood expressed disgust at reports that bus operators condoned sex in vehicles.

"I would never ever in my lifetime allow myself to be a party to such an outrageous attack on people pickney, that is cruelty." Millwood added that if this is the reason for the removal of tints, he is in support of it, and has made this known to his more than 160 drivers.

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com