Licensing overhaul
Speaking with the Sunday Express, Cadiz said the Motor Vehicle Authority’s (MVA) main office is currently under construction and will be delivered in June.
The minister said administrative personnel will be based at the Central location and vehicle inspections, driver training and other aspects pertaining to the authority will take place at this location.
The new MVA will be a computerised environment, with the acquisition, adaptation, improvement and implementation of a complete business software system, which introduces the best practices of the Province of Nova Scotia into the operations of the Licensing Department.
This software will ensure a new, secure driver’s licence, which will improve the identification of citizens and reduce fraud.
It will also see the introduction of highly secure vehicle plates, which will facilitate the management and control of the illegal use of motor vehicles, leading to a positive impact on the level of crime.
New MVA to improve technology, reduce crime
According to Barrington Trinidad Ltd, the local agents for Barrington Canada (the firm employed by Nova Scotia, Canada, for the motor vehicle authority in that country), the new system will involve:
• The creation of modern enabling policies, legislation, regulations, business processes and procedures
• The strategic introduction of new technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) and automatic number plate recognition, which will be utilised for crime detection and reduction, and for compliance improvements with the rules governing the use of roads
• Knowledge transfer and appropriate training of all members of staff, including strategic deployment of management and operational personnel from Nova Scotia, Canada, to enable mentoring, staff development and the institutionalisation of change
There are potential crime and corruption-reduction benefits associated with implementation of the new Motor Vehicle Authority (MVA) programme, including, but not limited to:
• Enhanced identity-verification processes (proving identity and address information) to provide greater assurance that a person is who they say they are, as well as to prevent an individual from gaining driver/vehicle credentials under more than one identity
• Electronic registration of vehicle owner/registration records, reducing the reliance upon paper-based, more easily manipulated, corruptible ownership transfer processes
• Electronic registration of driver credentials and records, allowing more timely access by enforcement officials to determine someone’s identity and driving eligibility
• World-class driver’s-licence production processes containing state-of-the-art overt, covert and forensic-level security features, eliminating the ability to successfully manufacture fraudulent driver’s licences
• World-class licence-plate production processes, customised uniquely for Trinidad and Tobago, containing state-of-the-art security features, technology and secure supply chain, eliminating the ability to successfully manufacture fraudulent licence plates
• Use of vehicle-related documentation and credentials (eg, ownership documents, licence plate validation stickers) produced with materials containing various security features, reducing the ability to produce fraudulently
• Maintenance of electronic driver-violation records that enforcement officials can access at roadside to determine whether a driver is eligible to be operating a particular vehicle
• Ability to provide other Government services through use of smart-card technology and MVA citizen records, both enhancing customer service to the citizen and reducing the ability for a citizen to have multiple identities across Government services to use for inappropriate means
• Use of a very secure and auditable transaction-processing system which prevents transactions from being processed and inventory being issued (eg, licence plates, driver’s licences) both erroneously and inappropriately
• New processes requiring vehicles entering the country through the ports to be examined and properly registered prior to the vehicle being exposed to the opportunity to modify the vehicle to mask its identity
• Enhanced driver-testing processes to improve confidence that a driver meets appropriate driving standards prior to licensing
• Enhanced regulation of automobile dealers, motor-vehicle inspection stations and vehicle-rental agencies to improve protection of consumer interests.