The Eastern Regional Minister, Hon. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo has cautioned workers of the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) to stop extorting money from drivers and car owners before discharging their constiutional duties.
According to the Minister, available evidence indicates that most drivers pay a paltry sum of GH�6.00 to escape the compulsory eye test for award of driving license, warning that the practice was unacceptable and must be stopped.
He also warned the officials of DVLA to immediately stop the engagement of illegal contractors (�Goro� boys) who collect unspecified amount of money from vehicle owners and drivers to fast track their registration and licensing processes. Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo was speaking at the 10th Anniversary celebration of the DVLA in Koforidua last Monday.
According to him, the DVLA has to play its statutory roles diligently and with transparency to ensure that vehicles are road worthy before registration. Drivers must also undergo proper driving test and rigorous eye test before issuing them with license. The Minister also charged the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to intensify its education on road safety to ensure that road users become more responsible for their own safety.
He mentioned driver fatigue, drink-driving, wrongful overtaking, poor understanding of road signs, reckless driving and issuing of driving licenses to unqualified persons, as some of the major causes of road accidents in the country. There is no doubt that the DVLA has become a money making venture for some of the staff. There are so many rickety cars and vehicles, especially the commercial ones, that do not deserve to operate transport service, yet these cars and vehicles are roaming our streets with road worthy certificates issued by the DVLA.
Early this year, The Insight newspaper published a pathetic story about how people sit in their homes and yet manage to acquire drivers licence officially issued by the DVLA, when the drivers do not even know how to shift to the first gear. Innocent lives are being lost on our roads as a result of this sheer greediness by some of these unpatriotic DVLA workers who put materialism ahead of human live.
The Chronicle is, however, happy that a Minister of State has also noticed these malpractices and is advising staff of the DVLA to put a stop to it.
It is the hope of The Chronicle that Mr. Ampofo�s warning will not be a mere rhetoric, but he would also impress on his government to ensure that the staff of the DVLA, who are engaged in this fraudulent behavior which does not help in nation building be brought to book. No one can replace human life, therefore any act of any person, must be seriously checked;
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