Motorcycle Dealers will be Required to have Licences

Minister of Transport and Mining, Hon. Robert Montague, says that motorcycle dealers will be required to have a dealership licence from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries in order to conduct sales.

This is part of provisions under the new Road Traffic Act, which was passed in the House of Representatives last November.

He said the legislation will be accompanied by regulations to better protect riders and pillions on the roadways.

“What we are moving to insist upon is that in the purchase price of the motorbike, a helmet and a vest will be attached. We are insisting on the registration number of the motorcycle being printed on the helmet and the vest as well,” Minister Montague said.

“What we want to see are persons in their helmets, because when there is a motorcycle accident, that person has to go to the hospital… with $300,000 to $400,000 to treat that injury,” he added.

Mr. Montague was speaking with JIS News at the High Level Symposium for Transport Ministers of the Caribbean Region, held recently at the Iberostar Hotel in Rose Hall, St. James.

He said that the Ministry is “getting the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) to be the lead agency, and although the Act has been passed and the regulations are being prepared, there are certain mechanics that have to be put in place”.

“We are putting in the Board now and we are recruiting a managing director. It is a groundbreaking legislation; it is new and we are taking our time to get things right,” he noted.

The regulations of the new Road Traffic Act are expected to come into effect in short order and will tackle indiscipline as well as enforce law and order on the island’s roadways.