'No more fake driving licenses'

The ministry would make no room to make fake driving licenses in the future, Transport Deputy Minister Rohana Dissanayake said. He said the Motor Traffic Department issues nearly 40,000 driving licenses per month. He said that in 2012 alone, 347,959 new driving licenses had been issued by the Department. He said that the department receives over 1,250 applications for driving licenses per day.

He said that evidences were found that there had been instances where applications had been fraudulently made and driving licenses issued. He said in 2012, 19 such fake driving licenses had been detected. He said the people involved in this illegal activity with their documents had been arrested. He noted that these licenses had been made in January and March last year. He said the CID had been informed of this incident.

He observed that obtaining a driving license was not as simple as buying a commodity from a shop.

He noted that patience was needed for this task, adding that due training and examinations should be passed within a given time frame to obtain a driving license in the proper manner.

The minister made these comments during a discussion at the Ministry in the Nuwara Eliya District office of the Motor Traffic Department which was to be opened on Friday.