NO DOUBT the citizens of Barbados were quite surprised to learn in this newspaper that 600 cars were stolen between 2012 and 2018 from private residents and business places. What is quite alarming, though, is that many of these stolen cars may be still on our roads with different features.
This immediately brings into focus the inspection and licensing process at the Barbados Licensing Authority.
The inspectors can no longer adopt the traditional way of inspecting a vehicle, but rather be more circumspect in determining if the chassis and model numbers have been tampered with. This may involve additional training, possibly at an advanced level by someone certified in this field.
Both model and chassis numbers should be entered into a database to determine whether these numbers were used before on an existing model. This involves careful recording and should not be treated in a haphazard manner.
– RICHARD JONES
