South Darfur reduces vehicle registration fees to curb insecurity
July 25, 2015 (NYALA) – The South Darfur state reduced by half the fees for vehicle registration in a bid to encourage people to register their vehicle and end the presence of cars circulating without licence plates in the state.
Militias and armed gangs used to circulate in the state with unregistered vehicles illegally imported from Central African Republic (CAR), Chad or even captured from rebel groups.
Officials say the measure aims to improve the security situation and to identifying and recovering stolen vehicles.
Earlier this week, the governor Adam al-Faki said there are more than three thousands unregistered vehicles in South Darfur. He further disclosed that a team of customs police officials arrived in Nyala to study the legal status of the vehicles without ownership certificate.
Al-Faki said he directed the South Darfur state minister of finance to reduce the customs rate by 50% to encourage car owners to speed up the registration of their cars, adding that the circulation of vehicles without licence plates becomes a security concern for the police authorities.
Also, he announced that they decided to exceptionally authorize the registration of old vehicles in order to curb the insecurity in the state.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune under the condition of anonymity, a state official said that 90% of vehicles in South Darfur are without ownership certificate, adding they ask the owners to sign an affidavit, a rewritten statement, issued by the Nyala Court attesting they are the real owners and they owned the vehicles through purchase, without any registration papers.
The source added that the majority of vehicles without official documents are from Central African Republic (CAR) which has a joint border with the South Darfur state.
He added that despite the reduction of fees, the percentage of registration remains very weak in comparison with the estimated number of unlicensed vehicles in the state.
“Many of the vehicles owners refuse to pay any customs tax despite the reduction as they demand to be entirely exempted from the fees because they have contributed to end the insurgency in the state,” the official said.
In February 2014, the South Darfur state police announced the capture of over 1100 unregistered cars illegally imported from CAR, Chad or captured by the government militiamen after battles with the rebel groups.
The Police director in South Darfur state Ahmed Osman Mohamed, at the time, stated that unregistered vehicles a big threat for the security in the state.
(ST)