With mere days remaining until the December 31 deadline for vehicles to be inspected, drivers are lining up by the dozens at inspection stations to certify their vehicle and avoid the $5,000 fine for uninspected vehicles which will come into effect on January 1, 2019.
Visiting inspection stations within the Penal and Debe district, their owners and managers were barely able to take time away to speak to Guardian Media due to the quantities of vehicles in line for inspections, however, they noted that they have experienced higher numbers of motorists coming to get the inspections done as the deadline draws nearer.
Kheeran Ramai, who now helps run his father’s garage and inspection station located in Ramai Trace, Debe, said he has observed many motorists aren’t getting their vehicles inspected to ensure safety on the roads but are motivated, instead, by the fine.
“You know a man would come and do a regular oil change and regular maintenance cause it’s the right thing to do? A lot of people doing it – from my experience – because they know officers charging them on the road for it,” Ramai said.
Ramai’s father, David, has been conducting vehicle inspections for private vehicles for some 20 years and was recently authorised to do transport vehicles (“T” vehicles) by the Ministry of Works and Transport.
Despite the last-minute rush for inspections, he said it isn’t the worse they’ve experienced. “We’ve seen a greater rush of people before – because it’s valid for every two years (private vehicle inspection certificates) so when that batch expires…then that whole rush period would start up again,” he said.
He said they have previously had vehicles parked from their station, which is located about 500 meters inside of Ramai Trace, out to the main road awaiting inspection.
One customer in line told Guardian Media he left the long lines in Rousillac to venture to Debe to get his private vehicle inspected.
Asked why he chose to come so close to the deadline to get it done, he jokingly said, “You know we Trinis. We like to wait for last minute to do everything.” This last-minute tendency, David indicated, has them on their heels. He said motorists should have used the five-month grace period given by the ministry to get it done but admitted, “but, we (inspectors) have to do what we have to do.”
In a telephone interview, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said after being given the five-month moratorium and the commissioning of 60 additional approved testing stations, there is no excuse for motorists not having their vehicles inspected come January 1 when law enforcement begins cracking down on them.
“The thing about it is that when a vehicle is inspected, it’s certified for the road. If you have a vehicle that is not functioning, you are actually threatening other lives on the road and that is one of the reasons why you have a vehicle inspection – to ensure the vehicle is roadworthy.”
Sinanan said he is pleased that motorists are using the 60 additional inspection stations as owners of transport vehicles are no longer limited to Licensing Offices to get it done.
Earlier this year, the Police Service and Licensing Division indicated it would be clamping down on deviant drivers who do not conform with the vehicle inspection requirements and would be enforcing the $5,000 fine.
This led to traffic jams around the country as motorists rushed to get their vehicles inspected, as well as public outcry as transport vehicles were only allowed to be inspected at the Port- of -Spain and San Fernando Licensing Offices while vehicles weighing more than three tonnes were inspected at the Caroni Licensing Office.
These factors led to the ministry putting the five-month moratorium on the exercise and authorising 60 additional inspection stations to conduct the inspections for both private and transport vehicles.
Private vehicles are to be inspected after five years from the manufacture date (not the date of registration) while transport vehicles are to be inspected one year after the date of licensing.
