Panday: People got punishment instead of relief

Patriotic Front political leader Mickela Panday. - File photo

PATRIOTIC Front political leader Mickela Panday says the UNC promised relief in its general election campaign last year but the population got punishment instead after the party won the election.

Panday made this observation in a post on January 7, as she referred to statements made by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Elias Zakour on the same day.

She recalled the UNC promised lower fines and driver education in its campaign. Panday said this tune appears to have changed now that the UNC is in government.

"Now we know better.” The people were not misinformed. They were misled."

Panday said the UNC cannot claim it "did not have access to data" about traffic and other related offences while it was in opposition before April 28, 2025.

She added this begs the question what the UNC was doing in opposition for nine and a half years.

"Opposition is work, research, scrutiny, preparation. If after almost a decade you are only now “realising” the problem, that is not an excuse. It is a failure of responsibility."

Panday said, "Expired permits and lack of insurance are not new issues. They are the result of economic pressure, long delays, broken systems and the absence of real driver education. Doubling fines does not fix that. It only deepens hardship."

She added, "When working people miss a renewal because rent, groceries and bills come first, that is not 'lawlessness'.

Panday said this is reality and policy must be grounded in reality.

"Road safety matters. But so does honesty."

She said all citizens are asking for is fairness, consistency and why campaign promises vanish after election day.

"Truth matters. Accountability matters. Governing must begin with remembering who sent you there and whose pockets you are reaching into."

In statements posted on X and Facebook on January 7, Persad-Bissessar said, "In the coming weeks the government will go to Parliament to propose to implement the following reforms to make it mandatory for drivers to be given time to repair defects before the fines are enforced."

At a news conference in Chaguanas on January 7, Zakour defended the government’s decision to sharply increase fines for late driver’s permit renewals, insisting the move is aimed at restoring order on the nation’s roads rather than generating revenue.

At a UNC meeting in April 2024, then-opposition leader Persad-Bissessar said, “A UNC government will reduce traffic fines across the board and implement state-sponsored driver education programmes instead. What is publicly presented as a mission for public safety is really a scheme for government revenue collection."

Zakour defended the change in policy.

“On the campaign trail, we did not have access to the data. Since assuming office, we realised the lawlessness is worse than we thought."