Motorists who believe they have been towed from authorised parking zones in the capital city can now contest their case and use video footage from the wrecker to support their case.
Port-of-Spain Mayor Joel Martinez said yesterday that all wreckers authorised by the corporation had been outfitted with cameras. He admitted that there were instances where "the wrecker, in their enthusiasm, may pick up vehicles indiscriminately."
"I am trying to put things in place to ensure that is minimised. We have added cameras to the wreckers so if someone feels their vehicle has been indiscriminately picked up, they can come to the police station and lodge a report. We will look back at the footage and if it is they were aggrieved, we will reimburse them." The fine for illegal parking in the city is $500.
He was speaking to reporters during a launch at St Joseph's Convent, Port-of-Spain donation drive.
At his swearing-in ceremony last year, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, urged Martinez to deal with illegal parking in the city, with the installation of parking meters and the growing homeless population in the city.
Martinez said yesterday there was congestion in the capital owing to the number of vehicles on the nation's roads.
Citing a situation which occurred on Monday where a resident had parked on the road before entering his property to secure the dogs before driving in, Martinez said the vehicle was wrecked "because it was parked on the opposite side of the road."
He assured, "I listened to the burgess and will address the matter."
On the issue of homeless people in the city, Martinez said he had several meetings with the Ministry of Social Development and included officials from the ministries of Health, National Security and Local Government, who were all involved in a project initiated by his predecessor.
He said the business community had been invited to participate in the project.
"We are setting up a task force and trying to come to a better understanding as to how to treat with the street dwellers," he said.
He said there were different categories of street dwellers and the task force had to determine what was needed for each category which included the mentally ill, medically ill, deportees, elderly, general persons who fell through the cracks and drug addicts.
"We have to determine how to treat with them and we want to deal with it quickly. We don't just want talk, we want to be able to drive it and get some action out it quickly," he said.
He acknowledged that fear of these persons had kept visitors away from the capital but he was confident that with the right procedures and treatment, many of these people could be rehabilitated and regulated.