5-year license plates up for discussion

At last Panama’s Transit authority (ATTT) is considering a move that may bring the issuing of license plates into the 21st century.
The license plate that will be designed for 2011 may be valid for a period of five years.
This year the plate renewal has been chaotic, with the likelihood that they will not be ready until September, giving some vejhicle ownersonly three months before joining theline or the next  one.
The change awaits the ultimate decision . of the authority ATTT and local authorities, who currently have the proposal on the discussion table.
The authorities are assessing the possibility and are expected to make a final decision on the matter by years’ end.
What’s to discuss? It will save money, metal, and time.
"It would be a practical measure and we would not have to launch a bidding process every year to manufacture the plates," said Celso Córdoba, Director of the Motor Vehicle Registry department at ATTT.
The plates would be valid until the year 2016 and only the decals would have to be renewed on payment of the annual road tax.
It’s a system that has been in place in other jurisdictions for over 30 years, and was once in vogue in Panama.
And,while they are at it, why not introduce plates on the front as well as the back? They would be useful if ever  the ATTT   puts camera’s in place to catch red-light jumpers and Cinta Costera speed hogs.