Accidents swallow Rs 15 billion
*Minister blames incompetent drivers:
*Thirty five percent obtain licences issuing bogus
medical certificates:
Irangika RANGE
Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said road accidents cause an
estimated loss of Rs 15 billion annually to the country’s economy.
It is reported that around 35 percent drivers have obtained driving
licences by producing bogus medical certificates and are responsible for
the rise in the number of fatal accidents.
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Drivers injured in
bus-lorry crash
Kapila SOMARATHNA Panadura group
correspondent
Eight persons including the drivers of a
lorry and a CTB bus, were admitted to the Panadura Base
Hospital following an accident in Panadura on Saturday.
A lorry transporting rice from Marathamuna
in Jaffna crashed onto a CTB bus with five passengers. Two
drivers and the cleaner were injured in the accident.
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The Minister made this disclosure at a ceremony to launch several
services to provide a quality and efficient service to customers at the
National Transport Medical Institute in Nugegoda.
It has been found that a number of accidents occur due to the
incompetence of those at the wheel. This is because today it is easy to
obtain a driving licence without actually having to go for a medical
test, he said on Saturday.
“We have reported a number of fraudulent activities by certain
parties in issuing fake medical certificates to obtain driving licences.
Police raided many places and seized driving licenses and thousands of
forged documents needed to obtain licences including medical
certificates and application forms. That is why, the Institute has
introduced a new scheme to provide special and genuine medical
certificates for drivers,” the Minister said.
With the implementation of the new system, they were able to reduce
the number of frauds in the issue of driving licences.
The Minister said the UN has declared 2011-2020 as the decade for
road safety. Sri Lanka has already taken a number of steps to confirm to
guidelines with respect to the highway code, road safety, conduct of
drivers and pedestrians through the National Transport Medical
Institute.
He said the Government has incurred a huge loss due to road accidents
caused by reckless driving which is higher than the amount ( Rs 9
billion) allocated by the Government for Samurdhi beneficiaries.
He said the Institute will commence issuing medical certificates for
drivers to obtain the driving licence for light vehicles which were not
issued earlier.
Meanwhile, a new computer data base system has been established at
the Institute to exchange the information between the Institute and the
Motor Traffic Department. |
