BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 31, 2021– On Monday, Mayor Bernard Wagner invited the Minister of Youth, Sports and E-Governance, Hon. Kevin Bernard, and members of the media to the unveiling of the new Traffic Inspection Office. The office, which was previously located on Johnson Street, is now housed in one of the offices at the Marion Jones Sports Complex.
When asked about these improved facilities, the Traffic Administrative Manager, Jermaine Hyde, commented, “When customers came to the previous inspection booth, they were exposed to the elements. So, on days when it was raining or when it was extremely hot, they were exposed to all of that. Moving to Marion Jones Sports Complex, we now have an entire covered area where they will be going to receive their inspection. Yes, the inspections will be done in the parking area, but they can access services under the verandah that is there. It’s a more secure area because previously we’ve had situations where there had been gang warfare in the previous area. Shots had been fired and people had to be scrambling from there, so we are more comfortable now having the booth in a more secure area.”
Hyde also said that the facilities provide some of the much-needed amenities to staff as well, given that the previous inspection booth was very small. Additionally, the old booth did not have a bathroom, which is now available at the new location along with additional storage facilities.
The new inspection booth is only one of three initiatives recently undertaken to optimize the services of the Traffic Department. On Monday, the Belize City Council also announced the recently completed renovation of the department’s main office, which was been repainted and fitted with a protective window so that administrative services can be easily accessed. New furniture has also been placed in the office. They also rolled out a new e-testing platform through which persons seeking their driver’s license can now take their written tests digitally and receive results immediately after the completion of their tests.