Roads Dept and Driver Examiners on a collision course
The Department of Road Transport and Safety (DRTS) has rubbished claims by the Association of Driver Training Botswana that there are no driving examiners in Gaborone and Molepolole region. DRTS says all their five regions have driver examiners. Following an article published by The MidweekSun last week, in which the driver training association blamed the death of a driving instructor and his learners on the ministry, DRTS has come forward to clear the mist. “The greater Gaborone region has shortage of examiners, as a result of the recent suspension of some officers,” said DRTS Acting Director Godwin Tlhogo.
He says they have since resolved to engage examiners from other regions fortnightly to test on weekends in Gaborone, Mochudi and Molepolole. Meanwhile the driver training body accuses the department of neglecting their cries so much that they are forced to seek services as far as Palapye and Selibe-Phikwe . The association was even more fuming a week ago when four of their own perished in a car accident while driving to Selibe-Phikwe for a yard test. They claim that they have on several occasions tried to make contact with the department but nothing is being done. But Tlhogo remained steadfast. “We have on several occasions held meetings with the association to come up with strategies that can be best agreed upon and applied.
Through the engagements, the department has been able to provide service in Gaborone despite the challenges.”He urged all to remain patient and to utilise the services that are agreed upon as per the schedule they have agreed on. He says they will be conducting mass testing on both yard and road testing from the 18th November to December 3rd 2017. Because of having no examiners in Gaborone, driver trainers and their learners have been forced to travel longer distances to go and complete driving tests, which is how recently some were involved in the accident that killed them. The association feels that such deaths could have been avoided had DRTS been proactive in ensuring Gaborone had enough examiners.