Transport Commissioner Clive Clarke said licensing officers are on the island at the TTPS’s request. He explained that this was to facilitate several operations relevant to the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act. He said this type of enforcement is not new.
His interest in Tobago was sparked by a new ICT system that uncovered concerning practices. He highlighted the discovery of vehicles with duplicate chassis and instances of vehicles being registered twice. Clarke shared that a system has been developed to alert inspection stations when vehicles with potential issues come in for inspection. He noted that many such vehicles have been found on the island.
Clarke noted that some individuals might unknowingly be driving stolen vehicles. In such cases, he emphasised that the vehicle must be surrendered for investigation. He also highlighted that many people are driving with expired permits and without wearing seatbelts.
When asked about the results of the recent exercises, the Transport Commissioner stated that the TTPS will soon publish these statistics. He also responded to complaints about citizens being ticketed for minor vehicle offences, acknowledging that some licensing officers take things too far. However, he informed the public that they have the right to contest any ticket if they believe it was issued unjustly.
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