Ghana News: DVLA ordered to stop sale of mandatory First Aid kits

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has been ordered by the Transport Ministry to stop selling mandatory First Aid kits.

According to the Deputy Transport Minister, Titus Glover, the DVLA failed to duly inform both the board and the Ministry before going ahead with the implementation, thus they have been directed to immediately stop charging vehicle owners.

 A compulsory charge of GHc108 was introduced by the licensing Authority for the procurement of First Aid Kits for new vehicle owners seeking to register their vehicles. 

Several concerns have been raised by vehicle owners who argue that the First aid kits should not be imposed on them by the DVLA with exorbitant prices when the same items can be purchased at a cheaper cost at every other sale point.

The Minority in Parliament subsequently registered their displeasure and called for the charges to be halted.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Nii Kwartei Titus Glover, said on Citi News that the DVLA should have engaged its stakeholders properly before introducing the policy.

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“Let me put it on record that the Ministry of Transport is not aware of the sale, because if there should be any major decision, the management needs to discuss with the board of DVLA, and it’s also on record that the board is not aware of the sale. So we were all taken unawares when this issue came up, so what we intend doing, is to invite the Chief Executive of the DVLA and his team to the Ministry. The choice is on the driver, they have to walk into any shop and buy their own First Aid Kits. If the drivers in my constituency want to use any First Aid Box they can walk into Community One and just grab one and pay for it.”

“You must have the right to express yourself on the price, but where you force it down the throat of the drivers; they can resist it because first of all, there has not been any proper engagement and this is a New Year. They have to halt it because this is a national security matter. If the drivers decide to lay down their tools, it will become a problem for all of us” he lamented.

The DVLA had early on defended the decision to charge vehicle owners for the provision of First Aid boxes, saying it was meant to ensure Public safety as a research indicated that many drivers did not have the kits in their vehicles.

www.primenewsghana.com/ Ghana News