The new Board of Directors of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) on Tuesday assumed office under the chairmanship of Brigadier General I. B. Quartey, for a three-year term.

Members of the Board are Mr Rudolph Beckley, Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Authority, Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, CEO of the National Road Safety Commission, Rosetta Olympio, Representative of Road Users, Lawrence Kumi of the Ministry of Transport, Lieutenant Colonel Ajibadeck, Ghana Armed Forces, Frank Imoro Adam, Customs Division of the Internal Revenue Authority, and Joseph Bentor, National Insurance Commission.

The rest are Andrew K. Kwakye, Ghana Road Transport Co-ordinatinating Council, Francis Agbozo, Ghana National Association of Driving Schools, Robinson K. Martey, Ghana National Garages Associations, Francis Amegayibor, Ghana Automobile Distributors Association, Assistant Commissioner of Police Angwubutoge Awuni of the Motor Transport and Traffic Department, Ghana Police Service.

Addressing the Board in Accra, Brig. Gen. Quartey said though the objective of the DVLA was to promote good driving standards and ensure the use of roadworthy vehicles, they must not lose sight of the fact that the Authority had a duty to generate and collect revenue on behalf of Government.

“We will, therefore, pursue this agenda very aggressively, making sure that all loopholes are plugged to enable us to achieve and even exceed given targets. “To be able to achieve set targets, therefore, calls for rebranding of the Authority, continuing from where our predecessors are leaving off.

“Our efforts at rebranding must continue to focus on the automation of our activities to weed out completely the activities of middlemen,” he said.

Brig. Gen. Quartey said a glance at the report on the mid-year performance conference held in July, this year, also pointed to the need for more investment in the area of human resource of the Authority by way of recruitment, training, equipment and motivation.

He said the Board would take up this challenge to ensure that personnel always displayed very high standards of professionalism and excellence in the discharge of their assigned duties.

Brig. Gen. Quartey said: “The image of the DVLA out there on the civil street is not that palatable. Our image as an Authority must change and we will, therefore, have to embark upon an aggressive public relation to inform and educate the public on our new ways of doing things.”

He commended his predecessor, Mr David Adom, Dr Justice Yaw Amegashie, immediate past CEO, the former Board and the staff of the Authority for an excellent work done.

“I want to promise them that we shall leave no stone unturned to ensure that the vision of the DVLA is attained in the not too distant future,” he said. Mr Adom, in his report, said a new ultramodern Head Office Complex was being constructed in Accra, while regional and district offices had either been built or renovated.

He said in order to fulfill the Authority’s mandate the Board approved the purchase of modern Vehicle Testing Equipment for the Authority. Mr Rudolph Beckley, Acting CEO, said the DVLA, in line with its Five Year Strategic Plan, was no longer under Government’s subvention.