Road traffic triples revenue

Newly rolled-out Malawi Traffic Information System (Maltis) continues to draw mixed reactions on the back of revelations that the Directorate of Road Transport and Safety Services (DRTSS) has tripled revenue, thanks to the new platform that has left most motorists frustrated and feeling abused.

DRTSS revenue collection records seen by The Nation show that in July 2015, the department—one of the collectors of non-tax revenue for government—raised K325 million against K120 million during the same period in 2014.

In an interview on Wednesday, DRTSS director Jacques Manong’a confirmed the rise in revenue collections.

However, motorists or clients of the department continue to find fault with the system, saying they feel abused to wait for hours to be served.

During a visit to DRTSS premises in Lilongwe on Wednesday, The Nation spoke to Fatsani Makhula from Dowa who said transactions under the new system were slow, taking up people’s productive time.

She said: “I have been coming here since Monday just to get a utility [user] card and I have not been successful. Can you imagine the load of work I would have done if all these hours were spent in an actual office?”

Pakisani Zundwe from Kasungu described the system as “useless, too slow” and called for its abandonment. He said it was a ploy by government to raise extra revenue amid donor aid freeze.

During the spot check, The Nation also learnt that some DRTSS officials were allegedly receiving K10 000 as a bribe to take the Highway Code test for some candidates.

Official DRTSS records have registered a sharp increase in the pass rates, further raising suspicions of corruption.

For example, one centre in May recorded a three percent average pass rate, the next month in June, the pass rate moved to 33 percent and 70 percent in July.

Manong’a also confirmed the dramatic rise in pass rates and allegations of corruption.

He said government is working to wipe out any kind of malpractices arising from people who want to use other means of beating the system.

Manong’a said the sharp increase in the pass rate was encouraging, but worrisome.

He said: “You see there is a pattern and the pattern we got from the sharp increase in pass rates worried us very much. We did our own investigations and found that some officials were indeed being bribed. This is a new system, but we are installing CCTV [closed circuit television] cameras in all rooms, especially where these tests take place and soon all this will be put to an end.

“As for the revenue collection, we were indeed amazed at the figures and the numbers keep on increasing, especially if they are compared to the money which was collected last year same period.”

It was also learnt that some DRTSS officers were pocketing money meant for government coffers hence the low revenues in the past.

To this, Manong’a said: “We are aware that so much money was going into people’s pockets and not to government coffers and since the Maltis is here to stay, we are hoping all this will be behind us. We also know that there are people who are deliberately trying to destroy the machine by splashing water on it or even applying some detergents so that it fails, but this will not happen because currently there are some measures which are being done and they will be caught.

“Let me also point out that we are aware that the service can be slow or is not catering for all the people, but we will open [satellite] centres in Lilongwe and Blantyre so that it helps to ease congestion.”

Maltis has been under fire from motorists owing to teething problems on its roll-out.

About a month ago, Truck Drivers Association of Malawi petitioned principal secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Moffat Chitimbe to consider revising the driver age limit and some components in the Highway Code, saying the drivers have forgotten.

Motor vehicle dealers also cried foul that teething problems in the system cost them business as potential customers cancelled deals.