St Kitts-Nevis: Opposition label Basseterre traffic lights ‘illegal’

The opposition party in St Kitts and Nevis has highlighted government “incompetence” over the commissioning of traffic lights in Basseterre, which is says are illegal.

The St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party has said that for the lights to be turned on there would have to be “a number of major amendments” to the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act.

This could also effect the written and practical tests drivers must take, they added.

There has been no response to these comment from the government.

WIC News reported on Friday that the country’s top traffic cop believes that the traffic lights will alleviate a number of problems affecting drivers.

These include reducing the number of collisions, easing traffic congestion, increasing discipline and responsibility among drivers, and adding organisation and structure in the way drives behave at junctions, according to Inspector Carl Caines.

The new system was trialled in the capital today, with the government hailing it a success.

But now criticism from the opposition has been levelled at Prime Minister Timothy Harris and his government, who are accused to announcing the switch on of the lights “in their haste to impress returning nationals during the Christmas and Carnival season.”

[caption id="attachment_3019" align="aligncenter" width="100%"] Prime Minister Timothy Harris.[/caption]

“True to form, the Dr Timothy Harris-led PAM/CCM/PLP administration has royally screwed up yet again,” said a St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party statement posted online.

“The evidence of their incompetence this time physically hangs over the heads of everyone in Basseterre.”