By Nasratu Kargbo
Speaker of Parliament Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu has criticized the process sometimes applied by people connected to the acquisition of vehicle licenses at the Sierra Leone Roads and Safety Authority (SLRSA) at the Pademba Road Office.
Bundu narrated to parliament on the 21st of February 2023 how what he was asked to pay and what was recorded in the receipt from personnel in the institution were at variance.
“If they could do that to Mr. Speaker, I wonder what ordinary Sierra Leoneans are going through”, he said.
The Speaker explained that he had asked his driver to license his private vehicle, stating that the last time he licensed the vehicle the cost was at four hundred Leones, and had estimated an increase which could be around five hundred Leones. He added that surprisingly the amount had skyrocketed to one thousand three hundred Leones.
Bundu explained that he contacted his driver who had spent over four hours at SLRSA to enquire about the reason for the delay and who in reply stated that even though he had paid what was demanded of him, they would not provide him with a receipt.
“After about two hours he was given a receipt, and on that receipt which I have a copy of here, it indicated that the license renewal is five hundred and forty- nine and the fitness renewal is four hundred and thirty-four. The two elements there give a sub-total of nine hundred and eight-three, and the license itself costs fifty Leones. When you add all you get one thousand and thirty-three Leones, there is a difference of two hundred and fifty-seven” said the Speaker.
He said that his driver asked for the balance of two hundred and sixty-seven, which took another hour for him to be given the money. He explained that the notes which he had paid were different from the one he was given, “The monies given to my driver came in drifts and drafts, two Leones, five Leones, ten Leones. He could actually see them collecting the money from the group in there to put together my two hundred and fifty-seven” said the Speaker.
He said his driver was threatened to take the vehicle for fitness the next day and see whether the car will pass the text.
He asked the Chairman of the Transport Committee in Parliament Ambrose Maada Lebby to investigate and report to the house about exactly what is going on with regard to the license at the SLRSA.
Copyright © 2023 Politico Online (24/02/23)
