Politician or Traffic Warden?

L.K. Hewlett
Editor- SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - PEDESTRIANS and motorists travelling along the island’s main road in Sandy Point this morning were surprised to see Parliamentary Representative Hon. Shawn Richards directing traffic.

The politician was seen acting in the role of a Traffic Warden, assisting children in crossing the road that leads to Sandy Point Pre-School and Primary School.

According to Richards, he was merely acting as any concerned citizen would by helping the children in his Constituency get to school safely in the absence of the regular Traffic Warden.

“It would appear that for the past two or so weeks, the crossing guard assigned to the schools has been on sick leave. I recognised this and it was also pointed out to me by concerned parents. 

The area has traffic coming from four different directions and it’s on the main road. Children from the pre-school, primary school and quite a few of the high schoolers use this route to get to school. I went there around 7:20 a.m. and stayed until about 8:30 a.m. when most of the kids had gone off the road,” Richards explained.

He said it was his understanding that teachers had raised the matter with the authorities, as had some parents. Richards stated that he too had called the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Joseph Richardson, and Deputy Commissioner Stafford Liburd, both of whom assured they would raise the matter with the relevant authorities.

Richards is dispelling talks that he was “pulling a political stunt” in order to gain support in his community and to “get attention”, noting the motive for his actions was genuine.

“I did this to assist the children because that particular area is heavily trafficked. I think instead of worrying about a citizen going into the street and directing traffic, they should be more concerned with the bigger issue, which is the safety of the children.”

Richards said later in the day he received phone calls and text messages saying that by noon a police officer had been placed in the same area to act as a Traffic Warden. 

One parent of the area spoke to SKNVibes.com with the promise of anonymity and claimed that he had spoken with Head of the Traffic Department Inspector Venetta Wyatt on Monday about the Traffic Warden situation.

~~Adz:Left~~ SKNVibes.com sought clarification on the matter by speaking with the Inspector, who said she was made aware that the regular Traffic Warden for that area would be on sick leave; however, she was unsure of the duration.

“I was told that the crossing guard would be on sick leave. For how long…I am not sure. I was approached by someone and asked if I could remove the crossing guard assigned to the Sandy Point High School and put her there. I told them that would create the same problem at the spot where the crossing guard would leave vacant. I had no extra crossing guards to replace the lady on sick leave,” she explained.

When asked if placing a police officer there was not an option to consider before today, Wyatt indicated that it was, but that would be a call for the Commissioner of Police to answer.

Information reaching SKNVibes.com indicate that police officers visited the area and were gathering information as to what Richards had been wearing and doing this morning.

The Inspector said she could not speak to whether Richards had broken any law by donning a safety vest, armed with a stop sign and directing traffic.

Richards said he was acting in the best interest of the children and if that was what it took for the authorities to take notice and remedy the situation, “then they could lock me up!”