Hundreds of derelict vehicles to be removed

by Linda Straker

• Before any vehicle is removed, notice will be placed on vehicle
• No response in 7 days allows police to remove vehicle
• Derelict vehicles to shipped out of state as raw material for other products

Hundreds of derelict vehicles will soon be removed from their locations under a special initiative involving the Ministries of Health, Infrastructure Development, Transport, Royal Grenada Police Force, and Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority (GSWMAH.

Called the National Derelict Vehicle Cleanup project, the plan is for these vehicles to be collected and shipped out of state for use as raw material for other products.

“We have looked for locations for doing the derelict vehicles… so the intention is along with the Police tow truck, our partner will provide some other tow trucks, we will collect derelict vehicles, we will take them all to multiple locations,” said Allen Gilbert, Integrated Resource Manager of the GSWMA, who explained that the locations will be called depots.

“At those depots, we will have stripping of the vehicles, baled into cubes, and then transported to a strategic location for placing into containers, and then they will be exported for recycling, smelting, etc., for other new products,” he explained during the official press launch of the project on Wednesday, 2 March 2022.

“This project cannot be restricted to the partners’ task with executing this initiative, and I must say and impress upon everyone as citizens, we must embrace this national project. We are all stakeholders and beneficiaries of this project,” said Randy Connaught, Officer in Charge of the Traffic Department.

Pointing out that his department has the mandate to ensure that the public thoroughfare remains free of objection, he said that derelict vehicles pose daily challenges for all road users. “It heightens the risk of some of the accidents we see occurring. So, in addition to the myriad of problems that we face on a daily basis, derelict stands almost at the top of the table,” said Connaught as he endorsed the project.

Using the law as guidance, before any vehicle is removed, a notice will be placed on the vehicle. If there is no response in 7 days, then the police along with the relevant agents will remove the vehicle. The cost of removal will become a debt to the owner and the money will have to be paid to the Ministry of Finance.

In the event that no owner comes forward, after 30 days the Commissioner of Police will make the relevant application to the court seeking its permission to dispose of the derelict.