Government launches handy
credit card-size driver’s licence
PHILIPSBURG--The fruits of a year of hard work paid off on Thursday when the new credit card-size driver’s licence was launched.
Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards, Commissioners Maria Buncamper-Molanus, Sarah Wescot-Williams and Louie Laveist, and Democratic Party Island Councilman Leroy de Weever were among the first to receive their new pink cards after a ceremony to mark the launch yesterday. The new drivers’ licences, introduced at a cost of NAf. 383,763 are much more secure than the licences that will now be phased out.
Sector Director for Economic Affairs Miguel de Weever gave a history of the project and thanked all those who had worked hard to make it a reality.
Census Office Head Leona Romeo-Marlin said the necessary expansion work had been done at the Census Office to facilitate the issuance of the licences at the Pond Island building. The new licences will be issued at the Census Office where the new system has been set up. Only the administering of the driving test will be carried out in the Yellow Building on Tamarindesteeg.
Romeo-Marlin said the current licences would continue to be valid until their expiration dates.
Kees Barneveld, Head of SQL Multi Post, the company that produced the licences for the Island Government, said the licences had seven security layers. The licences also double as identification cards for the holders. He said the company would be upgrading the licences annually to bring them up to a high level.
The Island Council approved an NAf. 35 increase in the fees for the new licences, which cost NAf. 100 each, on Wednesday.
The increased fee is expected to generate more than NAf. 320,000 annually for government, based on the yearly issuance of about 3,200 licences. The increase initially will offset the cost of the new automated administration system for the drivers’ licences.
The Control and Inspection Bureau (CIB) staff has been trained to use the equipment and is ready for the challenge of changing the 15,000 drivers’ licences that are registered on the Dutch side. The Bureau will first process the backlog of pending renewals and new licences.
