PLANNED MOT-style vehicle inspections in Jersey have been pushed back by a further four years.
Speaking to the JEP, Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan acknowledged that the new government could not meet the revised deadline that was set three years ago for the compulsory checks.
The inspections – which were planned to ensure continuing free movement of Jersey-registered vehicles in Europe following Brexit – should have come into force at the end of last month for all cars more than five years old.
But an order made by Mr Jehan under the Road Traffic law has now reset the date to 31 March 2028.
“We are not ready and I don’t think we will be ready for some time,” Mr Jehan said, adding that the revised date gave them “something to work towards”.
However, the minister hinted that the new timescale – which he described as providing “no rush” – also gave the opportunity for the government to explore whether there were any alternatives to the compulsory regime of “periodic technical inspections” under the Vienna Convention, which was extended to the Island in 2018.
One of Mr Jehan’s predecessors as Infrastructure Minister, St Saviour Constable Kevin Lewis, previously announced that the government would establish a single, dedicated inspection centre for the Island.
But the government failed to identify any local companies to carry out the work, which would involve three-yearly checks for cars over five years’ old, and checks every two years for motorcycles over three years’ old.
It was not confirmed whether the facility would be run by the government or by a supplier under an agreement.
Emphasising that he had only recently assumed responsibility for Infrastructure, Mr Jehan said that the government was not ruling out introducing inspections.
But he said they wanted “to look at whether [it] had any other options”.
Mr Jehan said that it was necessary to stipulate a revised deadline for the checks in order to ensure that Islanders could continue to take cars into Europe which he confirmed would be unaffected by the new timescale.
Testing times
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In the UK, once a vehicle is three years old, it must pass an MOT test every year.
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In France, a Contrôle Technique test must be carried out on vehicles when they reach four years old and this must be renewed every two years.
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DVS previously said that it would take between 14 and 16 people to set up and run an MOT facility in the Island.
