“We are hoping that persons would take advantage of this programme. Derelict vehicles are really a problem for the country,” said Inita Lake, Collections Manager at SWMC, noting that they provide a home for rodents, mosquitoes and stashes of illegal items. “People do all manner of evil in those derelict vehicles, and so we are really trying to do our best to combat this.”
The amnesty period began on October 01, 2018. After December 31, removal orders will be served.
“We have a procedure. A derelict vehicle is like garbage. So we can give them a removal order. The same process we use for garbage, we can also apply to derelict vehicles,” said Tyasha Henry, Collections Officer, adding that before a removal order is served a discussion will take place with the owner to negotiate how much time is needed to remove the vehicles. She said once they fail to remove derelict vehicles within the requested timeframe a summons ranging from EC $500 to EC $20,000 can result.
General Manager of SWMC, Keithley Phillip said that come January 01, 2019 his organization, inclusive of litter wardens, will work closely with the police to commence the ticketing process to have persons remove their derelict vehicles from the streets. He reiterated the call for persons to make use of the amnesty period so as to avoid being ticketed.