Despite the denial issued by the Ministry of the Interior about placing ‘block’ on the transactions of expatriates’ driving licenses, and blaming the social media of blowing the issue out of proportion and calling what was published as just rumors, and in spite of the directives given by Minister Sheikh Thamer Al-Ali to do away with what he called ‘random and ill-considered’ step, the blocks are still in place at the moment, and the lifting of the block is only limited to individual transactions carried out by senior traffic officers in the six governorates.
Al-Jarida has learned from its sources that behind this delay, is an explicit struggle between ministry officers, pointing out that limiting the lifting of cases to individuals push the visitors into the trap of extortion and the clutches of illegal beneficiaries.
The sources revealed that the decision to freeze the procedures for expatriates’ licenses was not actually canceled, but rather the ‘block’ was lifted in individual formats and by resorting to more strict measures requiring the cancellation of electronic renewal, which succeeded and proved effective in eliminating the problem of overcrowding of licenses, which leads the country back to a stage of delay at a time when the world is making progress in the world of technology in leaps and bounds.
The sources added obliging those wishing to renew licenses to visit the ‘traffic’ officials in their governorates in their presence to verify their data and complete the transactions, opens wide the door to the ‘bazaar’ of bribery, favoritism and the mood of these officials away from any objective considerations in this file.
The sources indicated the instructions issued to the ‘traffic’ officials require checking the applicant’s data to make a decision about them, including the profession, salary and academic qualification, which gives these officials discretionary powers to approve or reject the renewal of licenses.
On the other hand, the sources revealed that the General Traffic Department is currently studying a project submitted by one of the sector leaders to compel vehicle drivers to the type of licenses granted to them, that is, to prevent those who hold a general or “construction” license from driving private vehicles, adding that this proposal includes more than 200,000 licenses of the two mentioned types, and the purpose is to alleviate the problem of traffic jams.
