INDEPENDENT SENATOR Alicia Lalite-Ettienne has expressed her support for the government's Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill in the upper house on January 20, but urged that more time be given for motorists to effect repairs on their vehicles, as she said there are instances where parts cannot be quickly acquired locally and need to be imported, which could take months.

Although visually impaired, the senator had an in-depth understanding of the difficulties facing drivers, drawing on the experiences of her husband, who is a taxi driver. She detailed how parts for his Toyota Yaris were difficult to come by "in the Bamboo" requiring him to return to the firm. Many times, depending on the part, she said it could take months to arrive and could only be expedited at an increased cost. She said while people may try importing parts themselves, some are met with the wrong one on arrival.

"We are not like those first-world countries or countries that have manufacturing plants like the US so you can get your parts quickly. We are in a third-world country where you have the time period for shipping, ordering and it still takes a while even though with AI and all the upgraded technology and things are much faster, we still experience a delay. So I am kindly asking the government, if Transport Minister, you could look into it. Three to seven days, it's really, really tough and also if there is a strategy, a system you could implement if the person get that part and they waiting on it, if there is something they can show, if there is some documentation because when police officers stop you on the road, right now they are not having any mercy. Immediately, they consider you as being lawless."