ST. KITTS AND NEVIS BUREAU OF STANDARDS EMBARKS ON DRAFTING STANDARDS FOR VEHICLE INSPECTION AS A ROAD SAFETY MEASURE

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 25, 2022 (SKNIS): Jermine Mike, Head of Standards at St. Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards (SKNBS) noted that the institution embarked on drafting standards for vehicle inspection in order to ensure health and safety on the road.

“In St. Kitts and Nevis, we are mostly looking at roadworthiness to ensure that once your vehicle is tested… it is roadworthy, and that inspection should carry a lot of weight because you want to make sure that when you drive, there is a level of confidence in the inspection that was done and so far the general public doesn’t seem to be confident in their inspection,” said Mr. Mike on the May 25 edition of ‘Working for You.’ “So, we embarked on it to essentially harmonize the inspection process across varying mechanic shops or inspectors to make sure [every mechanic/inspector] is doing the same thing. So, no matter where you go you should be confident in and trust the vehicle inspection that you get,” he added.

Mr. Mike noted that the initiative came about due to numerous complaints from both the general public and the public sector.

He noted that the Bureau is currently looking at a few standards for vehicle inspection in St. Kitts and Nevis from the Bahamas, Saint Lucia and Kenya.

“When we first got the stakeholders together and we mentioned that we had a Kenyan standard people started chuckling not knowing that this standard is extremely stringent, it is very safe. For example, they drive on the right side and they do not allow any vehicle in the country that is a left-hand drive,” said the head of standards, adding that Kenya cited health hazards associated with left-hand drive vehicles. “Would we want to do that here in St. Kitts and Nevis? Maybe, maybe not, the discussion hasn’t reached that far as yet, but we are looking to see and making sure that we have a harmonized checklist on board.”

Mr. Mike reiterated that the SKNBS will be looking at the standards to see what can be used in St. Kitts and Nevis. He said, however, that the aim is to develop a national standard or try to adopt one from the countries listed above.

In addition to the inspection of vehicles already in the country, Mr. Mike noted that it is also extremely important to have inspections done on imported vehicles before they enter the Federation. He added that one of the duties of the SKNBS is “to ensure that whenever you buy from out there that it is a safe buy.”

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