Derelict Vehicle removal project moving forward slowly, PM frustrated at pace

Preparations are moving ahead for the commencement of the derelict vehicle removal program that was previously announced by Cabinet.

While plans are moving forward, the pace of progress has left the Prime Minister Gaston Browne frustrated, so says Cabinet Spokesperson Maurice Merchant.

“Yes, the team has been assembled. They are mapping the country to utilize the sources that they have available and so they have decided that in a zone, a particular zone – I do not have that detail – a particular zone, that they will descend on that area identifying those derelict vehicles and mark them. I know that the Honorable Prime Minister and the members of the cabinet are getting very impatient with this process that every time the Prime Minister speaks about beautification and about greening, he’s very gung-ho about that,” Merchant said.

According to the Litter Control and Prevention Act no.3 of 2019, Section 13 (1) states “Where any derelict vehicle is left in any public place in such circumstances as to cause, contribute to or tend to the defacement of the environment by reason of the presence of such derelict vehicle, the local authority may give notice to the owner or last known owner of the derelict vehicle requiring him to remove the derelict vehicle from the public place within twenty-four hours of such notice.”

It was earlier this year, that the directives came from Cabinet to begin the process of removing vehicles, but still nothing has started.

Merchant explains the delay could be the result of the specific process the relevant authorities must follow before removal.

“He expressed his frustration that this process needs to speed along but however it is not a simple process in terms of identifying, marking, and removing. There is a 14-day period after marking. So, you mark and there’s 14 days that person has to either remove it or to decide to leave it right there for the public, the government, to take control of it and put it where it rightfully belongs, in the dumps and so, it’s a process that is being addressed.

“There obviously will be some, there could be possible legal implications and so all of that is addressed. It may be on the boundaries of someone’s property, and they say they would have the right to have what they want on their property. So, all of that has got to be taken into consideration when this process would commence fully,” Merchant explained.

As part of its broader commitment to the beautification and environmental enhancement of the island, Cabinet emphasized that the continued presence of these abandoned vehicles presents not only an eyesore.