Bogus driving licences seized by Grenada police

Trinidad and Tobago driving licences are being illicitly acquired for use in Grenada, whose police are seizing the bogus documents. This disclosure came from a reliable source who had learnt of the scandal in a recent visit to the Spice Isle. The Grenada police, who are responsible for licensing transport, are staying silent on the matter. For decades the Licensing Office has been seen by many as a running sore, with consistent reports of people corruptly acquiring driving licences even creating a new local idiom, “Like you buy your licence”. But the scandal has taken a new twist.  A recent Newsday report that the Auditor General’s Special Audit Report bemoaned “disarray” and “touts” at the Licensing Office had prompted a member of the public to tell Newsday of an even deeper dimension to the problem. Newsday’s source recently visited Grenada where he uncovered how the racket in TT driving licences had now spread overseas.

He had been driving on the roads of Grenada with the authority of his valid TT driving licence when Grenada police had stopped him to check his documents. Upon seeing his TT licence, they closely examined it, disclosing that they had previously come across a number of bogus and illicitly-obtained TT licences. After confirming the validity of his licence, the Grenada police officer showed him a collection of about eight or ten illicit licences which they said they had seized from Grenadian drivers who had obtained them from a connection in Trinidad. The source told Newsday: “People from Grenada come to Trinidad to buy a licence. They go back home and drive on the TT licence for three months, then another three months, etcetera, like the law allows. Police in Grenada are seizing the permits. Grenada police told me they are getting a lot of false TT driving permits”. He said the officer he met had even showed him a tray containing about eight or ten illicit licences.

Asked how the Grenada police had been able to distinguish between valid  TT licences and those which had been issued illegally given that both originate from the TT Transport Division, the source said all the illicit licences he had been shown were seen to be thinner and more floppy than the genuine licences. As to how Grenadans had obtained the TT licences in Trinidad, the source disclosed what he had heard about, saying: “Just pay $500. Simple, simple. They don’t even have to take a driving test”. He opined: “We need our laws to be strengthened. They should put police to work on special assignment at the Licensing Office”. He said he thought that the Transport Division would have learnt of the Grenadian scandal by now. Meanwhile, Royal Grenada Police Force Acting Commissioner of Police Mr Winston James, told Newsday he couldn’t give us any information at this time, and advised Newsday to send him our questions in writing. Newsday, despite several calls to Wrightson Road, was unable to contact either Commissioner of Transport, Nathaniel Douglas, nor Assistant Commissioner, Arnim Clarke. Newsday was also informed that driving schools were aware of the licencing scam, but none were prepared to comment.