TRANSPORT MINISTER DISCLOSES MAJOR PLANS -To Improve Service Delivery
Photo Credit: information Technology
Monrovia, Wednesday, December 31, 2014: Transport Minister, Angela Cassell Bush has disclosed that the Ministry of Transport is working out the modalities to automate the vehicle registration and driver licensing processes to improve the Ministry record keeping and avoid revenue losses due to illegal vehicle document duplication. The Minister said the new computerized system will link the various ports of entry in Liberia to the Ministry’s central database and make the tracing of vehicles in Liberia easier to implement. The national database, according to Minister Bush will also be available to the law enforcement arm of Government to effectively monitor vehicle activities in Liberia.
Addressing the Ministry of Information Regular Press Briefing on Wednesday, December 31, 2014, in the Charles Gbeyon Press Wall on Capitol Hill in Monrovia, Minister Bush also disclosed plans by the Ministry of Transport to introduce new design of vehicle license plates and registration stickers for use in the country for the next five years. According to the Transport Minister, when the new plates and registration stickers are introduced in early 2015, all vehicles in Liberia will be required to change their plates and stickers to the new design. She said the new plates will have reflective sheeting and certain addition security features to avoid duplication. She told the briefing that the Ministry of Transport is also collaborating with the LNP in the rollout and enforcement of the new vehicle license plates and stickers and that key stakeholders including the Ministries of Finance and Justice have been consulted as part of the process.
Touching on other activities of the Ministry, Minister Bush informed her audience that in early December, 2014, Her Excellency the President, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf forwarded to the National Legislature, the proposed Axle Load Law for its review, deliberations and passage into law. According to the Minister, the proposed new law is intended to enact certain measures that will control the usage of our streets and highways to avoid the fast destruction of our much needed road infrastructure. The new law when passed, will stop certain kinds of vehicles from using certain roads and will restrict the amount of load a vehicle can carry based on the number of Axles the vehicle has. She said certain regulations will be promulgated by the Ministry of Transport immediately after the passage of the new bill to make the provisions of the bill more effective.
Concluding, Minister Bush said later during 2015, the Ministry of Transport as part of the national decentralization processes will be redesigning its offices outside of Monrovia in order to extend vehicle registration services to Bong, Nimba and Grand Gedeh Counties. These offices according to Minister will be fully equipped to carry on the processes and avoid people in the distant counties having to drive long distances to access the services.