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<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Confirmed : JUTC Drivers Under Probe For Illiteracy ( Gleaner )...</span>
The IslandTraffic Authority (ITA) has indicated that it stands ready to investigate reports that hundreds of persons in possession of driver's licences who recently applied to the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) for driving jobs were unable to read and write. ITA Director Paul Clemetson told The Gleaner recently that his agency was prepared to secure "any bit of information" that would help the authority "thoroughly investigate" whether its inspection process had been compromised, or if any of its systems had been breached."Persons with such a driver's licence can be funnelled to the ITA and we will do our due diligence internally to ascertain whether these individuals were issued with a bona fide certificate of competence by the ITA, and if so, where it was issued, and by whom," he said. Confirmation of failed testsThe JUTC, through its public relations manager, Reginald Allen, has confirmed that a "significant percentage" of the applicants with a driver's licence failed the literacy and other tests.However, Allen refused to give a commitment that the JUTC would hand over the information to the ITA, the agency responsible for testing prospective drivers."If that is something that the ITA is interested in, we would have no reservation in relating to them in that regard," he said."If possible ... it's something we will do if it warrants that," he added when pressed. Pointing out that obtaining a driver's licence without being able to read and write is a breach of the system under which it is issued, Clemetson said the information in the possession of the JUTC ought to be turned over to his agency."I am of the view that occurrences like those should be brought to the attention of the ITA," he stressed.Prime Minister Bruce Golding first raised the matter in Parliament last Wednesday during a debate on a private member's motion dealing with road-safety issues.Alluding to the JUTC issue, Golding said: "The way in which people get licences suggests that the whole system is porous."
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Confirmed : JUTC Drivers Under Probe For Illiteracy ( Gleaner )...</span>
The IslandTraffic Authority (ITA) has indicated that it stands ready to investigate reports that hundreds of persons in possession of driver's licences who recently applied to the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) for driving jobs were unable to read and write. ITA Director Paul Clemetson told The Gleaner recently that his agency was prepared to secure "any bit of information" that would help the authority "thoroughly investigate" whether its inspection process had been compromised, or if any of its systems had been breached."Persons with such a driver's licence can be funnelled to the ITA and we will do our due diligence internally to ascertain whether these individuals were issued with a bona fide certificate of competence by the ITA, and if so, where it was issued, and by whom," he said. Confirmation of failed testsThe JUTC, through its public relations manager, Reginald Allen, has confirmed that a "significant percentage" of the applicants with a driver's licence failed the literacy and other tests.However, Allen refused to give a commitment that the JUTC would hand over the information to the ITA, the agency responsible for testing prospective drivers."If that is something that the ITA is interested in, we would have no reservation in relating to them in that regard," he said."If possible ... it's something we will do if it warrants that," he added when pressed. Pointing out that obtaining a driver's licence without being able to read and write is a breach of the system under which it is issued, Clemetson said the information in the possession of the JUTC ought to be turned over to his agency."I am of the view that occurrences like those should be brought to the attention of the ITA," he stressed.Prime Minister Bruce Golding first raised the matter in Parliament last Wednesday during a debate on a private member's motion dealing with road-safety issues.Alluding to the JUTC issue, Golding said: "The way in which people get licences suggests that the whole system is porous."