A Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority (SLSWMA) derelict vehicle initiative has issued 1,713 notices for removing such vehicles since 2017, and the campaign is ongoing.
As of October 2024, 463 vehicles still have to be removed, according to Emlyn Jean, SLSWMA Information and Communication Manager.
Jean explained that field officers conduct daily monitoring to identify abandoned vehicles under the derelict vehicle removal programme.
The officers place notices on the vehicles, giving owners seven days to take action before the authority steps in to remove them.
Since its inception in 2017, the authority has created an electronic data collection platform to enhance record-keeping.
The shift from paper-based methods has allowed officers to use mobile devices in the field to record and update information, making the process more efficient.
“It has made it a lot easier in terms of management because you can actually pull up the information right away…whereas earlier, we literally had to go through piles of paper,” Jean explained.
The SLSWMA official highlighted the importance of public cooperation in removing derelict vehicles.
“The presence of the police sometimes helps these situations…people really don’t want to find out that when they come home from work, it’s gone,” Jean told St. Lucia Times.
Her remarks came amid an intensified effort this month by the SLSWMA and the police to remove derelict vehicles from public spaces throughout the island.Â
This initiative, described as an “ongoing vehicle management program,” focuses on identifying, tagging, and eventually removing derelict vehicles that pose public health and safety risks.
Jean emphasised that removing a derelict vehicle is the owner’s and not the SLSWMA’s responsibility.
It was time
There is an old truck that has been parked near the entrance of the Anglican church which needs to be removed as well. It has been there for a number of months (with flat tires and all). Taking up valuable parking space.
Just change the laws to hold vechile owners responsible for accidents caused by their vehicles being parked on the road. I am sure we will have all our streets free from all these obstacles.
Vehicles are tagged and then NOTHING. Years go by. Solid Waste is dysfunctional.
SLSWM. Yes vehicles are tagged then what ? There are vehicles that have been tagged for more than a year and no action has been taken.
It is time that the laws be amended to shift this responsibility to the police or Min. Of Infrastructure. In most other countries vehicles without a valid registration plate and sticker should not be parked on any government maintained road. That is this should be made an offense/ illegal.
Agreed
&Rude in other countries or at least where I reside it gets towed at the owners expense which is usually a very hefty sum.