BVI ‘Dumping Ground’ For Refurbished Vehicles-Skelton Cline

The BVI is being used as a dumping ground for refurbished vehicles that quickly become derelict, leaving residents to shoulder the disposal costs, political commentator Claude Skelton Cline has argued.

Speaking recently on his radio programme, Skelton Cline said he became aware of the derelict vehicle fee when he visited the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to renew his vehicle licence.

“I normally pay $84. The people now tell me it’s $600. I asked them, ‘For what?’ They’re going to tell me some $80-something for derelict vehicles,” he recalled.

Skelton Cline said he subsequently raised the issue with Minister of Communications and Works Hon. Kye Rymer, arguing that the Government was addressing the consequences instead of confronting the source of the problem.

“You cannot just keep addressing the fruit and not dealing with the root,” he said.

According to Skelton Cline, some businesses are importing vehicles that do not meet European or American specifications and cannot pass the emissions requirements imposed elsewhere.

He claimed many of the vehicles break down within six to 18 months and are abandoned along roadsides. The Territory must then pay to remove, store, crush and ship them away, he argued.

Rather than charging residents to help cover those costs, Skelton Cline said the Government should make the “bold and courageous” decision to stop businesses from importing such vehicles.

“If I were in government, I would give these couple of people six months to wind down this business,” he declared. “I would pass the legislation. This can’t happen anymore.”