Government has intensified the fight against corruption at
the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) and yesterday launched an Electronic
Learner’s Licence Testing System to enhance transparency and reduce human
involvement in the issuance of drivers’ licences.
The system is expected to be rolled out to all VID depots
soon. Under the new system, prospective drivers are no longer required to bring
drivers’ licences photographs as these are captured by the system as part of
registering one’s biometrics.
Further, the system is so efficient and convenient that it
does the marking automatically upon completion of the test without human
involvement.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel
Biggie Matiza, who has declared zero tolerance to corruption in line with
Vision 2030, launched the new system which was developed under the Zimbabwe
Integrated Transport Management Information System (ZIMTIS).
He said the system will curb corruption in a big way and
improve efficiency in the issuance of drivers’ licences.
“The security features inherent in the ELLTS also guarantees
that fake provisional drivers’ licences and drivers’ licences are eliminated,”
he said.
“The system enhances accountability by having added
features for audit trails. The testing software has a bank of more than 1 000
questions, which are randomly selected by the computer.
“Therefore, students can never predict which questions they
are going to receive and the grading is done as soon as a student completes the
final question. This not only cuts down on waiting time, but also prevents any
kind of corruption between the students and the official on duty, who might
accept bribes for passing a student, when they actually ailed.
“This integrated system will bring together the strategic
components of road traffic and transport management, promote the efficient use
of national infrastructure and sharing of information among relevant Government
departments and agencies.”
Minister Matiza said the implementation of the ELLTS would
enhance road safety and contribute towards the reduction of road carnage.
“Our endeavour is to reduce road traffic crashes and
carnage by more than 10 percent annually through vehicle inspections, driver
licensing and axle load control,” he said.
“We also contribute towards economic development through
improving the competence of our drivers, roadworthiness of vehicles and
protection of road infrastructure.
“As a result, effective drive training and testing
therefore, becomes the cornerstone of our strategy to reduce road carnage.
“Our country cannot continue to lose lives by putting
unqualified people, who would have acquired licenses fraudulently thence
exposing in perpetuity countless lives to a great risk.
“Likewise, reducing any incidences of rampant corruption in
the acquisition of provisional driver licenses and drivers’ licenses is
integral to the proactive strategy.
“The ELLTS resonates well with the SADC region’s endeavour
to harmonise and standardise driver training and testing requirements within
the Sadc region.” Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment