Get the hell drivers off the roads of PNG!
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Get the hell drivers off the roads of PNG!
PORT MORESBY: Road safety must always be of paramount concern to any government for the people.
It is thus baffling why Papua New Guinea’s government had yet to ensure that the issuance of driving licences are seriously regulated and enforced.
The National reported today (Wednesday, April 3, 2019) that it is easy to get fake driving licences because of the lack of security features.
Driving licences are thus easily produced by forgers and that there is no way to differentiate between the real and fakes on the spot.
This follows the death of three young men after a car driven by a 19-year-old man crashed into the Gordon Police Barracks on March 22.
Police now suspect that the driver’s driving licence is fake.
The government is urged to seriously look into the matter of high public concern, and to help make roads safer for the public.
Here’s what The National reported:
Easy to get a fake licence
By JOSHUA MANIPEOPLE are able to produce fake driving licences because there are no security features in the official ones which can differentiate between the two, according to the Road Transport Authority.
The authority’s licensing and registration manager Wilson Wariaka said many drivers using public roads were carrying fake licences which could be easily produced.
“The licences are just printed information laminated and issued. It is easy for people to copy,” he said.
The only way to check who is holding an official driving licence is through the provincial land transport offices which issue licences.
In Port Moresby, the Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited issues licences.
Other provinces have their own provincial land transport divisions to issue licences.
There is no central authority which has a record of everyone holding driving licences in the country.
Wariaka told The National yesterday that there was no way enforcement authorities such as the traffic police could tell the difference between a fake licence and a genuine one at checkpoints.
He said the fake licences looked exactly like the genuine ones.
“All features on the official licence can be copied. That is why you cannot tell whether a license is genuine or fake,” Wariaka said.
Joseph Salle, the officer in charge of the National Capital District Commission traffic police, had raised a similar concern on fake licences last week.
“In a technologically-advanced world like today’s, you can just go to your computer and create licences,” he said.
He said there were instances where police came across young people in possession of “high-licence” classes.
“This shows that their licences are (fake).”
“They lack the basic requirements of possessing such licences.”
Wariaka said one had to be 18 or above to undergo driving tests before being issued a driving licence.
He said it should take about a year before one could be issued a Class One driving licence.
Under the new Motor Traffic Act, there is no Class 2 licence but only Class 3, 4, 5 and 6. To get a Class 3 licence which allows one to drive a vehicle carrying more than eight people, the requirement is that the driver must have a Class 1 licence for one year.
“A Class 4 licence is for heavy vehicles. Class 5 is for motorcycles and Class 6 is for buses. If one wants to drive a bus, one must get a PMV permit to go with the Class 6 license.”
Salle said it was hard to determine the exact number of driving licences officially issued by authorities around the country.
“We need a centralised system where all licences can be processed in one place.”
The authority’s licensing and registration manager Wilson Wariaka said many drivers using public roads were carrying fake licences which could be easily produced.
“The licences are just printed information laminated and issued. It is easy for people to copy,” he said.
The only way to check who is holding an official driving licence is through the provincial land transport offices which issue licences.
In Port Moresby, the Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited issues licences.
Other provinces have their own provincial land transport divisions to issue licences.
There is no central authority which has a record of everyone holding driving licences in the country.
Wariaka told The National yesterday that there was no way enforcement authorities such as the traffic police could tell the difference between a fake licence and a genuine one at checkpoints.
He said the fake licences looked exactly like the genuine ones.
“All features on the official licence can be copied. That is why you cannot tell whether a license is genuine or fake,” Wariaka said.
Joseph Salle, the officer in charge of the National Capital District Commission traffic police, had raised a similar concern on fake licences last week.
“In a technologically-advanced world like today’s, you can just go to your computer and create licences,” he said.
He said there were instances where police came across young people in possession of “high-licence” classes.
“This shows that their licences are (fake).”
“They lack the basic requirements of possessing such licences.”
Wariaka said one had to be 18 or above to undergo driving tests before being issued a driving licence.
He said it should take about a year before one could be issued a Class One driving licence.
Under the new Motor Traffic Act, there is no Class 2 licence but only Class 3, 4, 5 and 6. To get a Class 3 licence which allows one to drive a vehicle carrying more than eight people, the requirement is that the driver must have a Class 1 licence for one year.
“A Class 4 licence is for heavy vehicles. Class 5 is for motorcycles and Class 6 is for buses. If one wants to drive a bus, one must get a PMV permit to go with the Class 6 license.”
Salle said it was hard to determine the exact number of driving licences officially issued by authorities around the country.
“We need a centralised system where all licences can be processed in one place.”
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