Getting rid of the derelicts

From January the Ministry of Works will be  patrolling the nation’s highways and road reserves looking for derelict vehicles which are not only an eyesore, but pose a hazard to health and environment, Works Minister Franklyn Khan has stated. The Minister on Thurday announced the “simple but sweet” programme at a post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall. Khan stated that a survey showed that at present there were some 751 derelict vehicles on the nation’s highways and road reserves. There were 203 in St George East; 272 in Victoria East/Nariva/Mayaro; 80 in St Andrew/St David; 185 in Victoria West and 11 in Port-of-Spain. There were some 310 derelict vehicles and 25 pieces of “major derelict equipment” such as graders and old steamrollers that exist on the various sites of the Ministry of Works all over the country.

“The Ministry of Works compound is not a pleasant sight,” Khan said, adding that the clean-up campaign, though simple, was expected to have a major impact on the environment. He said that as Government moved towards developed country status, it was not only the “big things” which were important, but also the “small things.” He said over the years there had been a problem in disposing of derelict vehicles in all ministries because for the procedure in the public service for disposal of “any asset of the state” meant that one had to go through the Director of Contract via the office of the Controller of Accounts. He said over time the vehicles were cannibalised “so you couldn’t match a chassis number to an engine number” and therefore it  became “administratively impossible” to go through the government process of dispose of this “junk,” he said, adding that some of the vehicles were 1940 and 1950 models.