Two-thirds of parking tickets issued last year remained unpaid after six months a loss of more than $1 million in Government revenue.

In 2008, motorists received more than 33,000 fines, but the number outstanding after six months was 23,333.

The figures were revealed in Parliamentary Answers to Questions submitted by Senator Michael Fahy in the Senate.

Yesterday he reiterated the Opposition's call for measures to force payment of outstanding traffic fines before a vehicle is relicensed.

Sen. Fahy accused Government of doing "very little to address the issue of unpaid parking tickets, which represents a massive amount of uncollected revenue".

But Attorney General Senator Kim Wilson said last night: "A Cabinet memo sponsored by the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Transport is in its final stages and is due to be presented very soon, which provides among other things for the denial of a licence registration if fines are outstanding.

"It will be tied to the electronic monitoring system at TCD."

Sen. Wilson announced in April that Government is to bring in legislation in the next session to clamp down on unpaid tickets.

In his Parliamentary Questions, the Shadow Transport Minister asked the Senator for a monthly breakdown of the "total number of parking tickets issued in the City of Hamilton for the period January 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009".

In her reply Sen. Wilson, Minister of Justice, said the figures did "not fall within the remit of the Minister of Justice", but that she could provide "the number of all parking tickets issued within the whole of Bermuda".

The number, from Magistrates' Court computer records, totals 50,727 Island-wide from January 2008 to June 2009.

Sen. Fahy also asked for the total number of parking tickets issued in Hamilton which remained unpaid within seven days over the 18 months.

Sen. Wilson said the figure for "the whole of Bermuda" was 43,162 more than 80 percent.

The Shadow Transport Minister then asked for the outstanding parking fines in the City of Hamilton after six months, from January to December, 2008.

Sen. Wilson said Island-wide, there were 23,333 unpaid tickets after six months in 2008. This is more than two-thirds of the 33,866 parking fines issued last year and equates to $1,166,650 in Government revenue. Sen. Fahy said yesterday: "The answers demonstrate that the Government has done very little to address the issue of unpaid parking tickets, which represents a massive amount of uncollected revenue.

"From January to December 2008 the total number of parking tickets unpaid after six months of issuance was 23,333. At $50 a parking ticket that is over $1 million that could have gone into the Government coffers. "This is mismanagement in the extreme. We have suggested in the past, and I reiterate this suggestion, that prior to any vehicle being relicensed, all outstanding parking fines and other fines relating to traffic offences should be paid in full. "This would be a simple and effective way to collect badly needed revenue. When a Government says it does not have the funding to commence the proposed Salvation Army Shelter it is staggering that parking fines go uncollected."

The problem of unpaid tickets stretches back several years. In January 2004, The Royal Gazette revealed hundreds of thousands of dollars were outstanding due to a failure to bring offenders before the courts.

Figures in 2007 then revealed Government had lost almost $2.5 million in three years by allowing 49,000 tickets to go unpaid.

Of 117,794 tickets issued in the City of Hamilton in 2004, 2005 and 2006, only 68,091, or just under 58 percent were paid.

In March Government introduced online payment of parking tickets as from April 1, but critics said this was pointless as there was no sanction for non-payment.

Hamilton Mayor Sutherland Madeiros told The Royal Gazette in April there have been talks with Government about barring car re-licensing for those with outstanding tickets.

"We have spoken to two Attorneys General about the issue of parking tickets and we haven't seen anything done to date. Linking it to TCD is just one suggestion," he said.

Last Friday in the House of Assembly, Deputy Opposition Leader Trevor Moniz asked Junior Minister of Justice Michael Scott how many outstanding tickets there were in general.

The Junior Minister said: "There are some 10,000 court warrants outstanding."

Mr. Scott clarified his comment to The Royal Gazette this week as: "The reference was to very old parking tickets not arrestable offences."