Senior Superintendent Ealan Powell (centre), head of the Police Traffic Division, and Constable Fitzroy Reid (right) check the documents of a motorist. - File

Janetis an accountant, and since leaving school five years ago she had set herself certain targets. Learning to drive was at the top of her list. Finally, after six weeks of $300-an-hour driving lessons, she was ready.

Mr. Blackis her driving instructor. He is the operator of a popular driving school for the past 25 years and hundreds of drivers have benefited from his expertise.

He informed her that despite her proven competence, in order to get the 'plastic', she would have to give the examiner 'a ting'. Janet is determined, however, to get her driver's licence without paying for it. But after three visits, Janet is yet to prove her competence to drive a vehicle to the satisfaction of the examiner. She was advised to work on her parking and given a date to return on her last visit.

Her tale of anger over the apparent collusion between instructor and examiner is pretty common across the length and breadth of Jamaica.

Fact-finding exercise

Many Jamaicans know that getting your licence is not that easy. It comes with a cost, as Janet's story indicates. After listening to a frustrated Janet, this reporter decided to go on a fact-finding exercise.

A phone call to Mr. Black revealed that he could assist me to get a driver's licence. On hearing that I could not drive a manual shift car, he informed me that it would cost me $15,000 for a 4,000kg-laden weight vehicle, but would cost a bit more if I could not read and write.

I was, however, a bit sceptical because of the ease with which he spoke to me without even knowing who I was; but I have come to realise that it has become an accepted norm for the examiner to be given a $10,000 'fee' in order to be certified.

I told him that I needed something bigger than a 4,000kg, he said he would make contact with his "examiner bredrin" to get the cost. I called him back two hours later and he told me it would cost me $20,000 for an open PPV licence.

"Get your learner's, pay for a $1,000 receipt for your driving test and get a general application form. You have to full out the front section of the application, the JP do the second section and the doctor do the third section," he instructed me.

"When you going by the JP, take the pictures for him to sign as well. When you do that, call me back," he said.

When I told him I was from a different parish, and that I had relatives in the corresponding parish, Mr. Black advised me it would be better if all the documents showed the same address. "Don't worry, just use your folks' address. I have a JP in the area who can deal with the paperwork," he assured me.

I asked him how long the process would take. "It will only take a day, but call me soon as you put the paperwork together, and I will put things in place."

Fourth appointment

Janet, by then, had made a decision to 'spend a money' after she was convinced by her relatives to 'work with the system'. She gave the money to her driving instructor.

Janet arrived at the depot on the day of her fourth appointment, prepared to show the examiner that her parking had improved, but to her surprise she was called in for an interview and questioned from her application form, after which she was told that she was successful. Janet is now a licensed driver.

According to Deputy Superinten-dent of Police Byron Powell, officer in charge of administration at the police traffic division, the Jamaica Constabulary Force has prosecuted many illiterate persons in the past.

"There are a number of accidents that have been caused by driving error, but it is not our job to determine the competence of the drivers on the road," he said

While acknowledging that allegations of corruption have been coming to his office, Director of the Island Traffic Authority, Winston Rattray, says nothing significant can be done unless persons are willing to come forward.

"Personnel from the Island Traffic Authority have been arrested and charged in the past, but the cases were adjourned sine die, because no witnesses came forward," he said.

"Complaints will come to the office either by telephone or a letter. The letters are normally signed 'concerned citizen', 'name withheld' or 'anonymous', but if the allegations are to be proven this is not enough," complained Mr. Rattray.

The director said that when an allegation is made, the authority conducts an internal investigation to establish if the allegation is malicious, and as long as it is discovered that the examiner's actions are questionable, he is transferred out of the area.

"Without proof from someone coming forward, there is little that you can do," he lamented. "We try not to place him or her in an area that they are from, where they might know a lot of people."

When the vacancy for a traffic examiner arises, it is advertised through the media, the basic civil servant qualification of four Caribbean Examination Council passes including English and mathematics plus an auto mechanics certificate.

An initial test is conducted and if successful, the candidate is preselected for an interview. The successful candidate then undergoes in-house training which includes knowledge of laws and regulations.

How to apply

To obtain a driver's licence one needs to be the holder of a provisional (learner's) driver's licence and the relevant application form (whether private or general) must be obtained from an Inland Revenue office, where the necessary fees must be paid.

A Justice of the Peace must endorse three passport-size photographs, while a medical doctor must certify that the applicant is in good health to operate a motor vehicle. Having obtained the required documents, an appointment is then made at the examination depot.

The applicant is tested on knowledge of the road code, literacy and mechanical knowledge. In the yard test, the applicant is tested on reversing and parking, after which he/she is taken on the road.