Far away in the northern region of Jamaica as I keep abreast of what’s happening in SVG, I was attracted by the news from friends of the Government’s intention to ban tint on vehicles.
I would hope that ban will apply to all vehicles, private and state-owned, and especially government vehicles, those vehicles which carry the ‘G’ license, which I understand have some of the darkest tint in SVG. I wonder who gave permission for these vehicles to be tinted in the first place.
I understand that the vehicles assigned to the Head of State, Head of Government and resident ambassadors will be exempt from this ban. We understand this to be for security reasons and in keeping with international protocol.
But what I want to remind our national policy makers about is that while they identify the removal of /ban on tint to be a measure towards ‘fighting crime’, this is not a panacea. It is just an act by government to project the image that it is doing something to fight crime. We still have to design and implement a national plan to fight crime, a plan that must be acceptable to both sides of the Parliament.
And while I am at it, it doesn’t take much telling for anyone to realise that the heat is taking a toll on all of us in many ways. This is as a result, the scientists tell us, of Climate Change which is going nowhere and therefore will be with us for God alone knows how long.
I therefore recommend that the anti-glare band overlay on the front windscreen be allowed, fixed at 12 inches thick and to a 75% visible light transmittance. This will prevent our steering wheels and dashboards from simmering.
In addition, we should consider allowing tint of 25-50 percent visible light transmittance on the driver and passenger windows, and at least a tint of 25% visible light transmittance on the other windows and the rear windscreen.
Just some thoughts.
P. Roberts
Jamaica