Can you get a driver's license issued or renewed today, or can't you? And, if you can't, when can you?
"As soon as we get the supplies," said Lawrence Olive, director of the Motor Vehicles Department.
If you want to get a license in St. Thomas, you fill out a form and pay your money in St. Thomas, and then take the information to St. John to get your actual license. If you're in St. Croix, you are out of luck, unless you want to make a time-consuming and expensive trip to St. John.
Olive said Tuesday that license issuance was temporarily stopped while the department awaits new forms that don't include a Social Security number. He said a recent federal mandate forbids this practice.
A call to St. Croix got the response that they "didn't have the supplies." When asked about the Social Securit number problem, the employee said, "Oh yes, that too." A call to St. John confirmed that, "yes, we are issuing licenses, and, yes, we have supplies."
The federal mandate which Olive referred to seems to have gone awry in the territory; it can't be found. Olive said he didn't have a copy at his office. Calls to the Police Commissioner's office and the department of Highway Safety have revealed nothing. Enrique Richards, highway safety administrator, suggested calling Olive. Upon learning that Olive didn't have the mandate, Richards said he would call his Washington, D.C., office to get a copy by Thursday.
Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen's office in Washington is researching the matter.