Opposition renews calls for limit on used-car imports

Leader of the Opposition Roy McTaggart has submitted a private member’s motion to Parliament requesting government implement recommendations from a 2020 report that called for imposing limits on the number of cars imported into Cayman.

McTaggart’s motion asks the government to put into action recommendations laid out in the report from the Committee on Vehicle Imports and Transportation, which included a ban on short-term work-permit holders buying cars and limiting the importation of vehicles to Caymanians only.

He is asking the government to consider reviewing the report’s recommendations “as a matter of urgency”.

Traffic congestion has been a growing issue in Cayman, highlighted most recently by a miles-long gridlock on Friday, 18 Nov., when the main thoroughfare in downtown George Town was closed off for a Pirates Festival event.

Premier Wayne Panton in a statement that evening apologising for the traffic jam, which he called “unacceptable”, said the road closures “clearly only compound the problem of the unrestricted importation of hundreds of cars every month”.

The 2020 report, presented to the Progressives-led government at the time by then Prospect representative Austin Harris, stated that an average of 464 vehicles were imported each month in 2019. Of those, 71% of those were secondhand, with more than half of these being imported by private individuals rather than by car dealers. The majority of those vehicles were being imported from Japan, the report noted.

The report stated that, as of January 2020, 75,000 vehicles were registered by the Department of Vehicles and Drivers’ Licensing, and that 44,906 were listed as “active”.

Report recommendations

The committee laid out a 10-point plan in its report.

Among its recommendations was that only Caymanians should be allowed to import vehicles – up to two a year. Any Caymanian importing more than that number would be required to be registered as a ‘reseller’ who would need a trade and business licence, or as a ‘collector’ who would be subject to an annual registration fee. This was intended to help cut down on the number of unauthorised secondhand-vehicle sellers.

Short-term work-permit holders, working for 3-12 months, would not be allowed to import or own a vehicle, the committee recommended. Instead, the committee said, they should lease or carpool, or buy a motorbike or moped.

The committee also recommended that people on longer-term work permits, for 12 months or more, would not be allowed to import vehicles, and could only purchase cars already on island, from local suppliers.

The report called for large employers, including government, with more than 50 staff, to introduce staggered work hours, flex-time or telecommuting, to ease commuter rush-hour congestion. It also recommended private schools provide bus services for its students, and that schools also introduce staggered hours.

Improved public bus and taxi services were also recommended, as well as park-and-ride options.

McTaggart noted in his motion that the COVID-19 pandemic halted efforts by the Progressives administration to implement the recommendations.

Parliament is due to begin its final sitting for the year on Wednesday, 7 Dec. At that meeting, the Opposition is also expected to submit a number of parliamentary questions, one of which – by George Town North MP Joey Hew – asks for an explanation on what caused the traffic gridlock on 18 Nov. and what is being done to prevent this
occurrence in the future.