The Herald has picked up the information that the government will, from June 1, 2011, privatize the issuing of road worthiness certificate to vehicle owners.

This is to apparently ease the pressure of work at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) in Accra, in particular. The privatization idea was mooted by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government before the 2008 elections caused their exit from government.

It is believed that a lot of garages that have been put in place to take over the issuing of the roadworthiness certificate from the DVLA are owned by NPP bigwigs, such as the former Minister for Roads and Transport, Dr. Richard Anane, who has his garage at Kuntunse, near Nsawam and one Oppong, whose garage is called S. Class Company and sited at Dome, in Accra.

Stakeholders are of the view that these private garages stand to make a lot of money that would have gone into government chest if government had taken upon itself the decentralization exercise by opening more DVLA offices in areas such as Accra and Kumasi where the population of vehicle is great.

One other concern the transport owners have raised is that the roads in the country are not good enough and for that matter vehicle- worthy as pertains in Europe, hence putting our vehicles to the kind of test as obtains in Europe, will not be fair to transport owners here.

Most of these vehicles will not be certified as roadworthy when the roads themselves are not vehicle-worthy. Consequently, the non-certification of these vehicles as a result of their age, will affect the livelihood of these stakeholders and their families.

Government, The Herald gathered will also bear the brunt of these vehicle owners and their families for denying them their livelihood.

Transport owners think that government should embark upon an aggressive development of the country’s road infrastructure before engaging the private man in the issuing of roadworthiness certificates.

They dismiss as untrue the argument that vehicles that are not roadworthy, are the cause of road accidents. Rather, they believe that the carnage on our roads are the result of reckless driving, including speeding, drunk-driving and the inability of the police to enforce mandatory road regulation.