Govt defends outsourcing of private garages
Minister of Transport and Public Works Francis Kasaila has said his ministry remains optimistic that the outsourcing of private motor vehicle inspectors, will significantly improve the delivery of services at the Department of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS) which falls under his ministry.
The minister was allaying recent fears that government’s decision to outsource vehicle testing and inspection services to private garages could be prone to corruption and abuse by some unscrupulous individuals.
The arrangement would entail that vehicle roadworthiness certification will be done by private garages that will be accordingly certified by the DRTSS.
After the minister’s announcement, Road Transporters Association of Malawi (RTOA) queried private sector’s capacity to handle such an arrangement when itself as a Malawi’s biggest employer has failed.
But Kasaila, speaking to Business News in an interview in Lilongwe, said the new arrangement will ensure proper certification of vehicles for road worthiness where DRTSS has not been able to adequately carry out the function due to lack of necessary equipment.
Said the minister: “The vehicle population has exponentially increased in the country and DRTSS has not been able to cope, the new arrangement will offer people choices and there will be many centres offering the services.”
Kasaila said with the new arrangement, the department will be able to focus on its regulatory role in the road transport sub sector.
“At the moment the Ministry is in the process of selecting the private operators after they had expressed their interest,” he said.
Going forward, Kasaila said government has outlined a series of workshops across the country with the private sector from March 13 2015 in Mzuzu, Lilongwe and Blantyre where DRTSS will solicit expectations and address any queries or concerns that the private sector might have on the matter.
He said his ministry plans to launch the initative by December 2015.
He also clarified that despite the new arrangement, DRTSS will remain the Regulator and carry out oversight functions. n
Well, there was already widespread corruption in the current system – has RTOA already forgotten that a Nation Newspaper journalist managed to get a COF for a non-runner? What we need though is capacity at DRTSS to ensure that the department is able to discharge its regulatory functions esp. ensuring that unfit cars are not certified as fit to be on the road, and that garages do not unnecessarily find vehicles unfit in order to sale spare parts of their own.