Modernisation BES vehicle registration

The Dutch Government and Execu­tive Councils of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba are discussing options for modernising vehicle reg­istration on the so-called BES islands. Digitisation simplifies inspections and facilitates the purchase and sale of cars. Caretak­er State Secretary Eddie van Marum of Digitisation and Kingdom Relations wrote this to the House of Representatives in The Hague.

National Vehicle Author­ity RDW investigated the current vehicle registration system in the three over­seas public entities and identified opportunities for improvement. It emerged that there was a significant need for 24/7 online ser­vices. This was a request from politicians, customs, tax authorities and insur­ers, as well as from citizens and businesses who want to change vehicle registra­tions or report a stolen ve­hicle or license plate.

“The systems currently in use in the Caribbean Neth­erlands do not meet the needs of the government organisations involved and offer few opportunities for integration with other par­ties. Enforcement is virtu­ally impossible because ve­hicle and registrant infor­mation is exchanged only to a limited extent. (…) Citizens and businesses of­ten receive incorrect road tax assessments. Some ve­hicles are driving around uninsured,” RDW stated in its report.

Vehicle registration is a re­sponsibility of the individu­al territories established by their Island Councils, so European Dutch legisla­tion does not apply. RDW therefore recommends a separate vehicle registra­tion system for the Carib­bean Netherlands, based on the Dutch system.

“This would allow the Caribbean Netherlands to leverage the develop­ment capacity and knowl­edge within the European Netherlands,” Van Marum stated in response to the recommendations.

RDW also investigated the possibility of integrat­ing the current vehicle registration system of the Caribbean Nether­lands with the system of Curacao, as this could be implemented quickly due to the similarities. How­ever, that option was ul­timately rejected. “This system does not align with the ambition to digitise services in the Caribbean Netherlands, which is the primary goal of the Digital Government project,” ac­cording to RDW.

The Daily Herald.