Cabo Star Sinanan strikes again! Chaos as MOWT runs out of certificates for inspected vehicles

It turns out that motorists were not the only persons who were ill-prepared for 2019. Officials at the Ministry of Works and Transport confirmed this morning that the government had run out of certificates to distribute to road-worthy vehicles, via roughly 60 private garages nationwide.

The MOWT cock-up—which meant neither stickers nor documentation to prove an inspection was conducted, was available at inspection centres—arguably makes it impossible for licensing officers on the roads today to work out whether the fault of the un-inspected vehicle they pull over lies with the driver or their own employers.

And what about the hundreds of tickets for up to TT$5,000 which were issued yesterday for the same infraction?

Photo: Ask Rohan if his mudda count dem certificates!

Cue chaos and confusion that can spread from motorists to licensing officers to lawmen to, eventually, the Magistrate’s Court. How can you ticket motorists for not having certificates that you failed to provide for them in the first place?

In the driver’s seat of the farce is, not for the first time, the Cabo Star himself, Minister Rohan Sinanan.

By now, Mr Live Wire is convinced you could hand Sinanan jam, peanut butter and a loaf of bread and he couldn’t figure out how to give you a sandwich in return.

According to a MOWT source, the government was “constantly told there was a shortage of stickers or none at all” leading up to 1 January 2019. Yet, Sinanan refused to give an extension.

“Let drivers eat cake!” seems to have the crooning contractor’s motto in the build-up to the imbroglio.

Mr Live Wire could certainly think of a less savoury meal that Sinanan could treat himself.

After making a mockery of the Tobago sea-bridge, the inability of the Prime Minister’s ‘man of business’ to properly roll out what should have been a straightforward exercise has frustrated thousands of motorists.

Photo: Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan.
(Copyright News.Gov.TT)

Is there anything simpler that Sinanan can do? Like call out the winning Play Whe numbers?

At this rate, Mr Live Wire is not sure that the Minister of Works and Transport could solve a 32 piece puzzle.

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About Mr. Live Wire

Mr. Live Wire is an avid news reader who translates media reports for persons who can handle the truth. And satire. Unlike Jack Nicholson, he rarely yells.

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81 comments

  1. . Not me eh. My car is 3 years old

  2. Cabo Star Sininnan allyuh good yes.next thing allyuh go blame Gary for d murders.

  3. Are we not supposed to inspect our T vehicles every year and P every two years why the rush now We too LAWLESS as apeople

    • You’re missing the point. If MOWT didn’t have sufficient certificates ready for drivers on 3 January 2019, how would they have had those certificates five months ago if people went then?

    • Lasana it took us at least 6 attempts before we were able to get our car inspected in Tobago. Each time we were told they didn’t have forms or stickers. Finally got it done towards the end of November much to our relief. This was the main inspection garage in Carnbee.

    • Debbie that sounds horrible. Sometimes Trinis are too quick to jump on each other and give authorities a free pass.

    • Trust me it was extremely frustrating but my husband was paranoid about getting that sticker and being responsible adults we persevered. One time the young lady in the garage farsely asked me why yuh didn’t come before and i had to tell her we had to make sure the car would pass inspection first. Boi it was pressha.

  4. “The depletion of inspection books yesterday is not the cause [of the current licensing confusion]. The incontrovertible fact is that citizens have failed to utilise the five month period granted to them to become compliant with the law.
    “[…] The Ministry acknowledges that the rush to have vehicles inspected did cause some depletion of the stock of inspection books yesterday but this was immediately addressed by the Government Printery whose staff worked overtime to ensure that the stocks are replenished and that citizens get their vehicles inspected.”
    The following is a 874-word statement by Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, which responds to criticism of his ministry after the shortage of inspection certificates caused chaos for motorists at inspection centres nationwide:

    https://wired868.com/2019/01/03/sinanan-admits-some-depletion-in-stock-of-inspection-books-but-calls-criticism-bizarre-unfortunate-and-misplaced/

  5. They all had 5 months no sympathy for the drivers or MOWT ps u don’t need the sticker the paper work will do.

  6. Wouldn’t it make more sense to do this around individual’s dates of birth to avoid this massive clog up at the beginning of a new year? I mean for chrissakes, this is not rocket science…..

    • it would be spread out, if everyone would have gone for the last 5-10Years. But ppl stopped going when there were no stickers and then Licensing stopped penalizing and one thing lead to another, remember the inspection is valid for 2 Years exact: Dec 2918-Dec2020 or Jan2019-Jan2021 and so on….

    • so now everyone is going at once… never the less Licencing should have prepared their stock of stickers and certs just like the drivers their cars….

    • Andreas it’s such a pity that TT citizens can’t take responsibility for their damn tardiness. It doesn’t excuse the MOWT, but seriously man. Ppl get a 6 month moratorium and still scrambling at the end while blaming all manner of people and orgs. Steups

    • Well the people who staff and run the Licensing Office and the public utilising its services are all products of the same last minute, undisciplined culture so l guess it’s no surprise the whole thing was effed up …. ?????

    • As a non trini i will treat lightly with my assesment…lol

    • Bottom line is if people had used the 5 months to get their car inspected the resources would not have run out from everybody and dey brother showing up on Dec 31st. If the moratorium was 1 month or 1 year the result dould have been the same

    • Rose-Marie Lemessy-Forde true…

    • Rose-Marie if MOWT didn’t have the number of certificates necessary now, how would they have had them five months ago?

    • Lasana if they print them locally i agree that a large number of stock is not necessary, which at times of increased demand can lead to shortages … one can argue of course that the licencing office should have forseen the setting of the trini mentality.. then again dey trinis too right? In 10 years they didnt manage to print sufficent stickers…lol

    • Lasana Liburd well it’s a matter of stock. If you generally need 10,000 a month and then with the moratorium you expect maybe 20,000 a month, you figure you could always print more as needed. But I guess nobody was prepared for everybody coming in the last few days. If licensing had a proper computerized system they would have known how many inspections were outstanding. But maybe their systems are not that developed.

    • Rose-Marie then the system is just as much to blame. If you know there are 80,000 cars and you are not prepared to process as many then you are just as culpable.
      Yet the minister talking about laissez faire public and glossing past that bit.
      The sea bridge was probably tobagonians’ fault too… ?
      Lol.

    • The stickers have a year on it.

      The stickers that were used on December 31 2018 (as it would be stale dated in 2020) can’t be used on January 2 2019 (as it would be stale dated in 2021).

      So the presumption that a mad volume of stickers could be produced and put into a corner is a fallacy

      People who have actual experience in JIT service delivery and production would understand.

    • Kwesi you still haven’t said why it is fine for the government to run out of inspection books on January 3. Now it’s one thing to say that they issued their usual 200 sticker books for 1,000 people and 3,000 people showed up.
      But that’s not what happened. Many Garages got no books at all.
      Whose fault is that?

    • Yeah, and according to that reasoning (or lack thereof) the passport disaster was also the public’s fault, seriously, does this Minister not know the culture in which he operates? Any project launched in any country, region, nation, must take that into consideration or fall flat on its face …

    • Tanya I won’t doubt that part of the reason Trinis are late with most things is a lack of faith in the system built up over the years too.
      Always wary of late changes.
      But I won’t go there in case someone explodes trying to comprehend.
      MOWT has a responsibility to deliver insurance certificates on a daily basis to these garages. It failed to do so.
      And Sinanan wrote 847 words and never said “sorry”. That’s a mark of the man he is.

    • Lasana Liburd I think we can agree that the MOWT fell short in some areas. But I sincerely believe that if the people didn’t wait until last minute the shortcomings and supply issues would have been addressed in a timely manner. Look at these people. You swear licensing had $50 hams?

      https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=356677731582013&id=184999232083198

  7. How does a matter of inspecting a vehicle become a hot bed political issue?. I’ll tell you. We can’t rise above who we are to look at anything without a jaundiced eye or blood red for that matter

  8. Incompetence at its worst. Minister Sinanan needs to accept responsibility and resign after all the 4 kups attributed to him. Cabo Starbwill be a calypso and a definite liability for this PMM government come 2020.

  9. Well why did everyone wait for the additional 6 months to now try to get their car inspected?

  10. It never rains but it pours…

    I expect so little and get even less from the authorities.

  11. Gary Griffith Syndrome. Is always somebody not the Liscence Staff/Management not the Police just Gary. Allyuh entertaining oui

  12. 1 word: ouch.
    1 word: wow.
    This is messed up to the highest degree.
    I have to carry my vehicle for yearly inspection and now I have to face this madness?
    WTF!

  13. It doesn’t work like that …allyu will never learn….the Dept. or the Cabo Star fella have a minimum of 3000 stickers to hand out to ‘associates and colleagues’ at $3,000 a sticker….. that is an easy $9 Million… no lineup… no waiting in garage… no repairing …. is so it does work….. like allyu just come here

  14. It has nothing to do with late: Number of registered Vehicles-those that gone to the dump-those that doh care/2Years=annual need for stickers and Certs… no matter late or not… lol

  15. I fed up oui…. we further down the banana

  16. What about delinquent MOWT…how could they run out of stickers, it’s like they expect to not have to hand out as many as they should have to hand out…

  17. Can’t believe that there were so many delinquent car owners!

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