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Government has given a month-long reprieve to those persons who have been unable to renew their vehicle registrations at the Barbados Revenue Authority.

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley made the announcement today, saying she had asked the Attorney General to speak to the Commissioner of Police and indicate that no efforts should be made to prosecute those drivers.

“We will bring legislation, a one clause bill if necessary, to ratify the decision not to prosecute anybody who does not and has not gotten their registration in time; and that gives people until the beginning of November….

“These are the kinds of nimble decisions that we have to take if we see things going wrong. We are not going to do it just idly so because it is the law, but we can bring a one clause bill that ratifies and creates that amnesty for this month. …. We need to get it right by next year, even if it means that the insurance companies have to do the collection on behalf of Government,” Ms. Mottley said as her audience applauded.

She made the comments during a 40-minute, wide-ranging speech as she delivered the feature address at the Barbados Sustainable Energy Conference 2019, themed: Roadmap to 2030, at the Hilton Barbados Resort.

The Prime Minister also disclosed that her Ministry had also intervened in some issues with regard to the Customs Department.

She continued: “At the time when the last Government set the tariff for electrical vehicles they never passed the legislation, so when the new ASYCUDA system comes in, it comes in with what is in the legislation, which was the higher rates before they reduced the rates.

“So, we have to go back now and make sure what was being applied for the last four or five years continues to be applied, even though it was being applied…without lawful authority.”

Ms. Mottley apologized to those electrical car companies that had been affected and gave the assurance that the reduced applied rates would continue.

She added that the rates would be put in law so that the correct ones would be picked up by the ASYCUDA system.

sharon.austingill-moore@barbados.gov.bb

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