Koforidua, Sept 10, GNA - A Government directive that vehicles of State Agencies and Departments, be given "GV" registration numbers, to help make for easy identification seems not to be complied with. In the presentation of the budget for the 2009 fiscal year, the Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Dufuor, directed that all government vehicles should be registered to check their misuse.

However, GNA checks in the Eastern Region has indicated that the directive is not being complied with since many government vehicles still bear the old private registration numbers, thus making it difficult for easy identification of government vehicles. Some government agencies and departments including the State Insurance Company (SIC), Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), as well as other departments at the ministries and the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), are still using old private registration numbers on their vehicles.

When the GNA contacted the Regional Coordinating Director, Mr Samuel Bawa, on the issue, he admitted that although the directive had been given, they needed a circular to that effect to be able to implement it. He explained that every directive from government was always followed by a circular indicating the procedure by which it should be implemented.

Mr Bawa said his outfit was therefore waiting for such a circular to take the necessary action on it. The GNA later sampled the views of some public and civil servants on the matter, who expressed disappointment about the non-compliance with that directive so far, making it difficult to identify government vehicles being misused.

The workers who spoke on condition of anonymity noted that despite a cut in government expenditure resulting in the cut of fuel to some agencies and departments, some officials entrusted with such vehicles overuse or misuse them thus burdening the ordinary taxpayer. To them merely issuing the directive on changing the numbers is not enough in checking the misuse of state vehicles, especially at weekends for funerals and other social events. In addition, there should be a procedure by which sanctions would be applied on officials who misuse them.

They appealed to the Minister of Finance to contact the relevant authority as a matter of urgency to ensure that the directive was complied with without any further delay. 10 Sept 09