PHILIPSBURG--Government is currently looking at alternatives that can be used in place of the 2020 number plates, Finance Minister Ardwell Irion said when asked for an update on the plates during the virtual live Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday.
“We are finalising a solution,” he said. “Obviously, bringing in plates at this point in time wouldn’t make much sense, so we are looking at alternatives.”
A total of 9,565, motorists had paid their motor vehicle tax up to Tuesday, March 3, almost half of the 17,843, who had paid the tax around the same time last year. This was before the state of emergency and lockdown under which the country has been placed, which has had a severe economic impact on many households in the country.
The coronavirus disease COVID-19 initially affected the delivery of the 2020 number plates, which had to come from China. The original contractor who won the bid for the plates had pulled out of the project, but the issue authorities faced earlier this year was the effects of coronavirus on the opening of companies in China, as the company in China that had been handling the plates was not allowed to be open due to COVID-19.
As the 2020 number plates had not yet arrived in the country, motorists who had paid their 2020 motor vehicle tax were allowed to use their current number plates without repercussions.
