Hon Rymer made the statement during the Seventh Sitting of the Third Session of the Fourth House of Assembly at Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duff's Bottom, Tortola, on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.

He was at the time voicing his concern on the recent shooting death of Catherine Pickering and the spate of serious crimes in the territory.

Minister for Transportation, Works and Utilities, Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5) said that with a lot of the crimes in the territory being linked to some type of transportation coupled with the absence of CCTV cameras, he said more police patrol is necessary on the roadways to fight crime.

Police need to step up - Hon Wheatley

According to Hon Rymer, it has become increasingly obvious that some vehicles on the territory's roadways are not in compliance with the law.

“There is a restriction on tint [but] we see a number of vehicles where you can’t even see in the vehicles. I know at some point the police would be out there stopping and doing their checks [to ensure compliance with the tint laws]."

Hon Rymer said that despite the police having a presence on the roadways at times, the laws are still being broken.

He said the same applies to illegal motorcycles on the roadways.

“We need to address these concerns that are linked to most of these crimes,” Hon Rymer told the House of Assembly while calling on the new Commissioner of Police, Mr Mark Collins and Governor John J. Rankin, CMG to look into the issues, including limited staff in the traffic department of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF).

“These vehicles, whether they are scooters, whether they are vehicles that are not legal for the roadways, we need to make sure that we have a hand on it and I hope with the support of this House they would agree that something needs to be done in regard to those matters,” Hon Rymer said.

Governor John J. Rankin, CMG, right, and Police Commissioner Mark Collins are being urged to look into the issue of traffic laws not being enforced strongly enough

HoA cannot be divided on crime - Dr Wheatley

Meanwhile, Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), at the same sitting, said the HoA cannot be divided on the matter of crime.

He called on House members to unite and confront crimes that threaten the peace, sense of security, economy, and social harmony of the Virgin Islands.