Charlestown-Nevis—It is a historic first.
On Tuesday 16th June, six former crossing guards working on the island of Nevis, were officially introduced to the general public, having been elevated to the position of TRAFFIC WARDENS.
The brief ceremony was held at the Charlestown Police Station’s conference room.
The new nomenclature according to Supt. Hilroy Brandy comes with added responsibility and powers.
They will now only assist with Crossing Guard duties where necessary but will primarily work out of one of the Police Stations on the island and travel with and assist the Police in the performing of traffic related duties.
They will be able to issue traffic tickets if required and will have the powers to carry out arrests where necessary. This they can do with the assistance of any good citizen, according to Supt. Brandy,
Inspector Conrad Bertie who is the manager of the Traffic Department on Nevis and who coordinated the effort to train the new Traffic Wardens, pointed out some of the topics covered during the training period, which commenced in October of 2014.
These included but were not limited to:
• Courtroom procedures which included the presentation of evidence
• Traffic laws
• Statement writing
• Customer service
He implored the general public to be cooperative with the new Traffic Wardens and in turn asked them to be courteous and respectful to the members of the general public and not seek to bulldoze them.
The six Traffic Wardens, incidentally all females, then introduced themselves as follows:
Kathleen Liburd—Gingerland Police Station
Sherilyn Smithen-Gingerland Police Station
Marva Bailey-Charlestown Police Station
Jasmine Barry-Charlestown Police Station
Sherise Williams—Cotton Ground Police Station
Sonia Wilson—Newcastle Police Station
A few of them spoke and indicated that they were enthused about their new appointments and vowed to do a fair job.
Jasmine Barry summed up their sentiments nicely:
‘Work with me and I will work with you,’ she declared.