For some motorists without a vehicle, the process to retrieve one after it has been seized can be tedious.

In fact, one motorist told the Jamaica Observer of the tasking process that left him without a vehicle an additional day, despite his completion of all requisite steps outlined by the Kingston & St Andrew Corporation.

The driver was stopped in Half-Way-Tree one morning after he unknowingly made an illegal turn onto Hagley Park Road.

“The vehicle was coming from the garage and we bought a battery down by Tyre Warehouse on Hagley Park Road… brand new battery and when you buy battery them have to give you warranty so, since the vehicle was coming from the garage, me say alright let me just drive it down Hagley Park Road to pick up warranty. I never realise that the papers were up,” he recalled of the incident.

“So going down from Constant Spring Road at the clock at Half-Way-Tree, I never realise that if you taking the right going down Hagley Park Road you must be in the extreme right lane, so I was in the second lane and then I put on my indicator and then go over, so them pull me over. When they check the documents a so they realise say the documents expire. Like I said, is about six months or so the vehicle was parked in the garage so just fi go get the battery and the warranty and so forth. So dem call wrecker, tek it weh, carry it go Lyndhurst Road at the pound,” he explained.

To retrieve the vehicle, it took him two days, as he said he was sent to multiple locations to be qualified for retrieval.

“It’s terrible man. You have to go from one place to the next,” he said of the frustrating procedure.

At the Lyndhurst Road Pound, he was instructed to visit the tax office to complete the renewal process for the documents. Then “from there they sent us to Transport Authority (TA) that’s on Maxfield Avenue to pay for the wrecker fee and pound fee which was $12,000.”

“When we went back now to the pound to collect the vehicle, them say them office closed. I think it was around 3 o’clock, so that took us into the following day,” the inconvenienced motor vehicle operator stated.

“I had to join a really long line at tax office and, after we reach back now [to the pound], them say them closed. The following day is just by the skin of mi teeth to how me get through at the pound because them say the lunch time was between one and two and after one [o’clock] on the second day, nobody was there yet from lunch at the pound working,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“It was a lady who oblige me ’cause she was out there and that is the second day when we went back to Lyndhurst [Road] Pound. So it basically took two days and we had everything, whatever them say we fi do, we do it,” he continued, adding that the service offered was “slack”.

The motorist also recalled a similar situation experienced by a friend.

“A friend of mine had a similar case, where her vehicle was towed away in Mandeville. She lives in town (Kingston) enuh and the got vehicle towed away in Mandeville and she have to go back in Mandeville the following day. We have to go to the pound, left from the pound and go the bank to pay at the bank, leave the back and go Transport Authority then Transport Authority send you back after them verify to the pound. A nuff different places we go, some of the places we all double in that one day,” he stated.

“The system is rotten man, the system rotten,” he added as he shook his head in disapproval.

“Back and forth, from Mandeville to where them pound is, which is somewhere near Spur Tree. So we had to be back and forth from Spur Tree to Mandeville, pay di money over deh so at the bank, and then go there so go verify it and then leave and go back here so. No sah, is one big rigmarole.Them just make it difficult fi people,” he stated.

A document provided on the TA’s website, notes six steps to retrieve a vehicle. Step one entails collecting three documents — a checklist, wrecker bill and seizure form — from the pound. The wrecker driver, security guard and pound clerk will also verify the condition of the vehicle and pound clerk will retain the checklist.

If the vehicle is seized by Transport Authority inspectors, the motorist should, if a warning was received, visit the office of the TA to collect the summons. Once received, the motorist should attend court where it will be determined whether the vehicle should be released or a fine paid to the court. If the vehicle is released by the court, either a letter addressed to the TA from the court or a receipt for the payment of the court fine will be issued, which must be presented to the TA in order for the vehicle to be released. However, if the vehicle is seized by the police, the motorist is to go to the Traffic Headquarters of the Jamaica Constabulary Force on Elletson Road to have documents checked and verified. If the vehicle is unlicensed and seized for that infraction, the motorist does not have to go to the police Traffic HQ but instead to the tax office for licensing. A current registration certificate will be needed in order for the vehicle to be released.

The third step requires that the motorist pay the wrecker fee at either a bank or the wrecking company. At this step, motorists are encouraged to ensure that vehicle documents are up to date. However, in rural areas the motorist ought to proceed to step five.

In step four, the motorist is required to take the receipt or relevant court documents, in addition to original documents for the vehicle, to the TA’s operations division for approval. In step five, the motorist pays storage fees, which are guided by TA regulations, and also collects a seized vehicle release form.

Finally, the driver can collect the keys to the vehicle after submitting the seized vehicle release form and payment receipt to the pound.

An officer from the TA is right in seizing a vehicle under the following circumstances: Operating a private motor vehicle as a public passenger vehicle (Section 61 (5), Road Traffic Act); operating a public passenger vehicle without a valid road licence (Section 61 (5), Road Traffic Act, Section 10 Transport Authority Regulations); and operating a Public Passenger Vehicle contrary to the terms and conditions of the road licence (Section 65) (13), Road Traffic Act).

A charge of $5,000 is incurred once the vehicle is placed in a pound facility. For motor cars, it is $5,000 for the first day and $1,000 each day thereafter. For buses and trucks an additional $500 is charged for the first day and $1,250 each day after.

There are three pound facilities throughout the metropolitan region, according to the website of the TA. They are located on Lyndhurst Road, Lakes Pen and Industrial Terrace. In rural Jamaica, the pounds are located at Swansea (Clarendon), Mandeville (Manchester), Tower Isle (St Mary), Marcus Garvey Way (St Ann), Bevin Avenue (St James) and Barracks Road (Westmoreland).

Up to press time, a response to questions posed to the Transport Authority regarding the matter had not been afforded to the

Sunday Observer.