Motor vehicle dealers want government to drop traffic and road safety act over irregularities

By Waswa Tenywa

Motor vehicle dealers in Uganda have appealed to the government to lift the ban on the importation of vehicles which are 8 years old from the date of manufacture.

The traffic and road safety amendment bill 2018 provides for a framework for variation of the motor vehicle registration fees provided for in the finance act 2006, and a ban on importation motor vehicles that are eight years old or more from the date of manufacture.

In the same bill motor dealers were given an ultimatum of 7 months to stop the importation of vehicles above the manufacture to 2009.

Addressing the media at down coin in kyambogo a Kampala suburb, Marvin Ayebale the secretary general of associated motor dealers said the transport sector in Uganda contribute over shs180 billions and provides jobs to a number of Ugandan youths adding that most of the vehicles imported into Uganda are old cars and beyond the 8 years from the manufacture which is slated to leave many unemployed if these bill is amended.

Ayebale also recommended that the government and parliament increase the proposed importation age limit from eight to fifteen years from the date of manufacture for end user subsistence vehicles.

He said the drastic importation age limit implementation will render over eleven thousand direct benefactors in the industry unemployed as it employed 216000.

Meanwhile Hajji Jafar Abdallah the chairman clearing and forwarding association stressed that the bill was put before parliament without consultation of private sector stakeholders through their registered umbrella associations by the ministry of works and transport and ministry of finance, planning and economic development over the proposed amendments to the traffic and road safety act 1998.

Hajji jafar also recommended that the increase of the proposed importation age limit from eight to fifteen years from the date of manufacture for end user subsistence vehicles.

The proposed amendments in the traffic and road safety act 1998 if adopted by the legislators will go into effect from 1st june 2018.