VP demands better Road Traffic Directorate

Vice-President Saulos Chilima yesterday asked the Ministry of Transport and Public Works to fix network problems that force people to wait for days before finalising processing documents at the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS).

Speaking during a familiarisation tour at DRTSS regional offices (North) in Mzuzu yesterday, Minister of Transport and Public Works Francis Kasaila said he and other officials recently appeared before the Civil Service Reforms Committee chaired by Chilima where the issue of “network” was strongly condemned.

Kasaila said Chilima ordered that there should be a change in the network to allow Malawians to access better services.

Said Kasaila: “It is unacceptable to have people leave their businesses and be held all day long just to access CoF [certificate of fitness] when that can be done in less than an hour.”

However, Kasaila assured the public that the directorate will soon have an advanced automated system with a reliable network that will see people accessing documents including driving licences in a shorter period. A licence which takes months will now be accessed the same day without the applicant being given provisional licence.

The minister also assured people in the Northern Region that they will have their licences printed in Mzuzu and accessed same day.

In recent years, people have been complaining about poor services at Road Traffic arising from perpetual network failure. People take weeks to access documents that normally take minutes to process. The development heavily impacts on people outside cities who have to travel now and then to inquire about the documents.

Director of Road Traffic and Safety Services James Chirwa said his institution is geared to serve people in the shortest time possible.

He said with a mobile service the directorate will now be serving clients at district level adding that there are plans to have sub offices in Karonga and Kasungu.

Chirwa also said the directorate is moving towards becoming an authority to ensure decisions affecting the directorate are made within through the direction of a board.