By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard said there is “chaos” at the Road Traffic Department as customers, forced to visit smaller substations, complain of long lines and a licence plate print machine that does not consistently work.

He criticised the government, saying it did not maintain facilities at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

“The Davis PLP administration has allowed the temporary facilities that house Road Traffic to fall into an appalling state of disrepair, dilapidation and PLP decay,” Mr Pintard said in a statement yesterday.

 “The facilities at the Sports Centre are falling apart and overrun by rodents, driving the staff out and cramming them into the West Bay Street and Carmichael Road substations. These small outlying facilities were not designed to handle the regular monthly flow of vehicle registrations and issuing of driver’s licences that pass through the Sports Centre facility for any given month. Further complicating the matter is the nonsensical requirement that the West Bay Street substation only transacts using credit and debit cards.”

 Highlighting printing issues, he blamed the matter on the government’s failure to pay fees to a foreign firm.

 “The licence plate printer is down, and we are told that printing is now taking place on two Family Islands, raising concerns about the expensive and unnecessary duplication of licences. Despite this, we are told that the corrected licences will not be printed until the government pays the New Zealand firm that services Road Traffic the substantial funds it is owed.” 

 Mr Pintard said Minister of Energy and Transport JoBeth Coleby Davis should be held accountable for the deteriorating situation. 

 He also urged the Davis administration to immediately reopen the Road Traffic Department(RTD) substations at Elizabeth Estates, South Beach, and Cable Beach.

 During a press conference yesterday, Superintendent Eugene Strachan said police were notified about the licence plate issue.

 He said people should have a receipt to show they must get a licence plate. He said police will ensure affected people are not booked unnecessarily.

 “I have yet to see any communication coming from the RTD as it relates to the way forward,” he said. “As it relates to them not being able to furnish them, we can make a check from the controller so that we can be on the same page as it relates to an individual presenting him or herself and at the end of the day, they should be able to get them, but we cannot dictate to the controller of Road Traffic.”