Licence holders waiting into curfew

Several first-time licence holders were left waiting to have their pictures taken well after the 9 p.m. curfew on Wednesday.

One man, who requested anonymity, said a notice on the Government Information Service’s Instagram page said the Barbados Licensing Authority was trying to clear a backlog of the plastic licence cards, and first-timers and those who paid for a transfer from their overseas licence between July 2020 and October 2021, were asked to visit The Pine, St Michael headquarters to have photographs taken between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. beginning last week Wednesday until today.

“After I passed my test in March, I was given a piece of paper because they said the machine was not working. They said we could come and get our photos taken this week between five until eight in the evening,” he said.

The man said he had previously gone on Monday, but because he did not have the receipt for his permit he had to return on Wednesday. He said he arrived at about 6:15 p.m. after leaving class, where there were more 30 people in the line waiting to be served.

“A lot of people who came [Wednesday] had to leave because it just got too late. We were there waiting forever. The time I left was after 10 p.m. I was the last person to get through. I got home way after the 9 p.m. curfew,” he said.

He said he was concerned about being outside after curfew.

Repeated efforts to reach Chief Licensing Officer Virgil Knight were unsuccessful, while calls and messages to Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources Ian Gooding-Edghill went unanswered. (RA)