Road Traffic: Commercial vehicle month ‘good now’

Monday, April 3, 2017

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Road Traffic Department’s principal yesterday said it had finally gotten a handle on the massive licensing backlog caused by commercial vehicle month month falling in March.

Ross Smith, its controller, told Tribune Business that the department had been working around the clock to facilitate vehicle licensing. “We’re getting there,” he said.

“We’ve been working around the clock. We just had a few companies that didn’t send in the relevant information; very few, smaller companies. We’re open every day, tired but we’re OK. We have it under wraps now. I was a bit concerned before but we’re good now.”

Tribune Business was informed by several sources that the Road Traffic Department has run out of the new vehicle license plates on several occasions.

On that issue, Mr Smith said yesterday: “We didn’t run out of plates until a few days ago. It has to do with where they are coming from. While we are building the system for the manufacturing of plates, we have to have them done through the company that we have contracted. They had some issues but they are back on track.”

The manufacturing of vehicle license plates will now be done by inmates at the Bahamas Department of Corrections, in a bid to address shortages and reduce costs.

At a press conference last week, Mr Smith said: “I believe there’s going to be significant savings; one because we have up-to-date equipment, not the old antiquated equipment.

“And so once you have equipment that is more up to date, 21st century focused, we should be able to produce plates much cheaper than we ordinarily produce them. With the actual raw material being used, along with the labour, we should be well under $10 for the production of plates.”

Comments

Franklyn says...

this government and its cronies are making bad decisions because its not their money being spent ...the experiment with inmates operating plate making equipment will fail. Interagency projects in the Bahamas has a history of failure. Many correctional facilities in the USA are managed by corporations with budgets to maintaining educational, farming and manufacturing businesses for profit. These are not experiments where public funds are wasted and where the public bearer the consequence of bad politically motivated decisions.

Again, our offer to provide (Bahamian Made) secure and reliable source for Vehicle License Plates remains open to this Government and it is our intent to pursue our new incoming government that most of us are sure would not be so politically petty in making decision in the best interest of the public.

************

Copy of our 2014 Proposal: in the reply.

Posted 4 April 2017, 9:50 a.m. Suggest removal

Deputy Prime Minister &
Minister of Works & Urban Development
Hon. Philip Brave Davis

Dear Mr. Davis,
I have attached our Plate Manufacturing Offer for your review and direction.
The proposal addresses immediately the issues of Vehicle Plate Manufacturing in The Bahamas which will remedy the issues at the Road Traffic Department as recently reported by Controller of The Road Traffic Department Mr. Ross Smith – Nassau Guardian (http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahama…)
The plate Manufacturing is an immediate fix where we can have 300,000 sets of Secure Digital Plates ready for use in the next 30 - 60 days at no cost to the Government. The DACS/Utsch partnership will provide the equipment, technology and necessary infrastructure to produce License Plates for The Bahamas project under a 60/40 PPP agreement.
Our proposal was first introduced to the Government on April 11th, 2014 in a meeting with Mr. Colin Higgs Permanent Secretary Ministry of Works, Mr. Stephan Wüstefeld, Managing Director of Utsch and Franklyn Robinson, President of (DACS). We have yet to receive a response from Mr. Higgs or the Government related to our offer.
On recommendation of The Minister of Transport and Aviation the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin we met with The Controller of Road Traffic Department Mr. Ross Smith on August 28, 2014 where a more comprehensive copy of our proposal was presented which included a proposal to establishment Centres for Precordial Technical Vehicle Inspections in The Bahamas - We have yet to receive a response from Mr. Smith or able to secure a follow-up meeting.
(Copy attached)
The business plan details our group's readiness to establish the listed service in The Bahamas at very little cost to the country while providing (150 - 200) new jobs and increasing revenue in this sector by 30%.
I pray that our proposal is given the necessary and serious consideration that will afford our group the opportunity to engage the Bahamas Government in accepting and approving our offer.
Please contact me at any of the listed numbers to further this important discussion.

Franklyn Robinson (DACS ID Systems)
30 Rosebud Road - Farrington Road.
Nassau, Bahamas
Tel. (242) 677-1559 or 544-9722
franklyn_robinson@aol.com

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2017…