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The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) will soon begin operating a new system which will enable drivers take their driving tests in five different local languages.

The DVLA explained that the system is currently at a pilot phase and will soon be made ready by the end of the year.

This was made known at a press conference in Accra addressed by the Chief Executive Officer of the authority, Rudolph Berkley.

The authority organised the press briefing following a strike by some commercial drivers on Monday.

The drivers complained that the new system which dictates that all prospective drivers must write the examination in English is discriminatory and unfair.

They also embarked on the strike to also protest against the compulsory driving course for potential drivers, the newly introduced electronic roadworthy sticker, the installation and use of seatbelts for passengers in all public transport, and the introduction of the private vehicle test stations.

The strike inconvenienced a lot of commuters, who had to walk to their destination while some waited for hours to board a vehicle.

The Transport Minister, Dzifa Attivor, criticised the drivers for failing to petition the relevant authorities to address their concerns.

She said her ministry is open for discussions.

Rudolph Berkley, in his address, recalled that in 2003 the authority introduced the written test, but its officers had to translate and explain the questions to prospective drivers who could neither read nor write.

This, he said, continued until 2007 when it was scrapped because the translation defeated the integrity of the test.

The introduction of the computer-based test, according to Berkley, has served his institution well.

The DVLA boss added that his outfit will in the future introduce a touchscreen facility that would help translate the questions into five languages – English, Ga, Ewe, Twi and Hausa.

Electronic road worthy

Rudolph Berkley said the electronic road worthy was introduced because the DVLA was having serious challenges with the old regime of issuing stickers.

“The authority took a firm decision to introduce an electronic sticker that could store vehicle information for easy verification to ensure that only vehicles that have gone through the inspection process and have been certified to ply our roads.”

Seatbelt policy

The DVLA boss said the concerns which have been raised by the drivers regarding the new seatbelt policy was amicably resolved at a meeting held between the Transport Ministry, the DVLA and the various transport unions.

Rudolph Berkley stressed that all the new policies which are being implemented by the DVLA have their roots in the Road Traffic Regulation LI 2180, 2012.

He thus charged all transport unions to use the proper channels to address their grievances rather than taking the law into their own hands.