Ministry plans hunt for 250,000 unregistered vehicles
KUWAIT: Warning to unregistered and uninsured vehicles. The General Traffic Department at the Ministry of Interior plans to launch a campaign to look for more than 250 thousand vehicles registered in its database that are uninsured.
They will be impounded if found, although notice will be served. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, sources from the traffic department said vehicle owners will first be contacted to either renew their cars’ registrations or hand over their license plates, otherwise the drivers’ privileges at the traffic department will be suspended.
There are people in Kuwait who ignore directives from authorities, even as their cars have been uninsured and unregistered for a long period of time. Billy and Muhammad are just two of them. “I had a problem with my visa 2 years ago. So I can’t renew my residency and other personal and public documents, but I was allowed by the MSAL to stay in Kuwait while my case was being heard,” admitted Billy, who is from England. Billy’s car has been parked at its flat and is rarely used for business purposes. His new company, however, provides him with transportation. “I don’t know how it will affect me, but I am ready. Maybe they’ll take my car, which is okay,” he said.
But the likes of Muhammad, a mandoub from Egypt, has a different story. His car wasn’t registered for over eight years, yet he seems not to care. “I have a big wasta,” he brags. “I avoid police because I don’t want hassles, I don’t want delays, but if they are there, I will give up my car,” he said.
Currently, there is a proposal to raise the penalty to KD100 for the current ‘fixed KD5 fine’, although sources admitted the penalty is not always a good deterrent, which motivated the ministry to go ahead with its planned campaign, which reportedly seeks to look for some vehicles registered to Kuwaiti citizens that haven’t been insured since before the 1990 Iraqi Invasion.
By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer
Kuwait Times
