The Government is moving to establish a centralised national digital registry of drivers and road users, a measure aimed at closing critical gaps in traffic law enforcement and ensuring that repeat offenders face the full weight of the law.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall disclosed the initiative during an interview with News Room on Thursday, explaining that the current system’s reliance on manually stored, dispersed records has severely hampered the ability of magistrates and law enforcement to access a person’s complete history of traffic offences.
“Every offence, the data in relation to antecedents… is manually stored. The magistrate court would not have the previous convictions or charges of that person… and that stultifies the enforcement of these important measures,” Nandlall said.
Under the new initiative, a centralised digital registry will be constructed and populated with critical information on road users, including licensing particulars and records of previous charges and convictions for traffic-related offences. The registry will be made accessible to key state agencies including the Judiciary, the Guyana Police Force, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Probation Department, the Guyana Prison Service, and the Guyana Revenue Authority ensuring that judicial officers and enforcement authorities have immediate access to accurate antecedents when making decisions.
Nandlall illustrated the practical impact the registry would have on sentencing and enforcement.
“For example, a person who is convicted for a second or third time for a drunken driving offence can now, in keeping with the law, have his or her licence either suspended or revoked,” he explained.
The Government intends to have the registry operational as quickly as possible, though Nandlall acknowledged that its rollout will depend on coordination between technical teams and the agencies responsible for supplying the relevant data. Efforts will also be made to digitise existing records held in physical files across various agencies, with the aim of making the registry as comprehensive as possible.
“We will go as far as the record currently held… will allow us to go,” he said.
Beyond the registry, Nandlall also flagged growing concerns over excessive noise from vehicles — particularly motorcycles operating without proper muffler systems as well as the indiscriminate dumping of garbage in public spaces. He said both issues reflect a level of disorder the Government intends to address through updated legislation and stricter enforcement.
“We can’t continue with this system of uncivilised behaviour,” he said.
