TEST centres for driving licences are widely known as hives of corruption. The so-called lesen terbang is bought and sold with impunity between those who want a driver’s licence without going through the rigorous tests, on the one hand, and middlemen who can bend the system, on the other. A problem long identified by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), it resulted in the e-testing system to be introduced in 2004, part of which is the theory testing on computers. Nonetheless, there have been many cases of fraud involving middlemen mainly from driving institutes and schools. It has been revealed that learner drivers will pay for someone in these driving learning centres to sit the test on their behalf. With computerisation came also the e-testing system that rely on sensors, cameras and other components for the physical test. According to inside information, the e-testing system is not fully implemented because of the prohibitive cost of putting it in place.
Is it any wonder then that driver’s licences are still “flying” between the lame learners and corrupt staff members? Because illegal licences result in unqualified drivers, the danger to other road users is a necessary consequence. It is with the aim of reducing road accidents that MACC and the Road Transport Department (RTD), the government agency responsible for coming down hard against the test centres where the saga begins, have attempted to nip the problem in the bud, so to speak. Thus far, cracking the whip at the approved test centres have netted 16 people detained for graft from Selangor, Kedah, Pahang and Johor. And, 600 names have been blacklisted from getting their licences. These are the drivers who have bribed their way and are without proper theoretical and practical training. Being on the list equals non-renewal of driver’s licences.
While RTD has assured that corrupt officials will face the sack, it is a statement that we have heard all too often over the years. That corruption has persisted for decades in RTD is an open secret. With the introduction of approved test centres, the problem has merely travelled to other venues. Despite MACC’s unending effort to stamp out the problem, its successes have only gone to demonstrate corruption’s persistent nature. The more stringent the driving test, the greater the willingness of the lame-brained to pay. It is this attitude that spawns dangerous driving on Malaysia’s roads, making it some of the most treacherous in the world.
Blacklisting unqualified drivers should help. And whatever solution devised and introduced into the system must be adhered to. If test centres are still allowed to operate manually, then what is the point of introducing e-testing in the first place? The lackadaisical attitude of RTD in enforcing standards must also be taken to task. Test centres must be forced to put the e-testing system in place. Those unwilling must be removed from the list of approved test centres.