KOTA BHARU, Kelantan: The Kelantan Road Transport Department (JPJ) has stressed that members of the Rohingya ethnic group are not eligible to hold a Malaysian driving licence due to their status as refugees in the country.
Its Director, Mohd Misuari Abdullah, said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card held by the group is not an official identification document that qualifies an individual to apply for a driving licence.
He, however, said that throughout enforcement operations, the department has never detected any Rohingya individual in possession of a valid driving licence.
Instead, he said the modus operandi often used when stopped at roadblocks is to produce UNHCR cards in an attempt to gain sympathy and secure release.
He also dismissed claims regarding the existence of syndicates allegedly helping foreign nationals obtain valid driving licences.
“Intelligence findings show that no such documents or syndicates have been detected in Kelantan so far,” he told BERNAMA recently.
To curb the issue from persisting, the Kelantan JPJ has stepped up continuous enforcement operations at several hotspots in Kota Bharu, Ketereh, Kadok, Melor, Pasir Tumboh and Tanah Merah.
According to him, enforcement statistics up to June show that 576 vehicles belonging to foreign nationals were inspected, 457 vehicles were seized, and 908 summonses were issued for various offences under the Road Transport Act 1987.
“The Kelantan JPJ also issues a stern warning to local vehicle owners who rent out or allow their vehicles to be used by Rohingya people without a valid driving licence,” he said.
Misuari said such vehicle owners will no longer merely be compounded, but will be taken to court under Section 23(2) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
“Kelantan is now among the earliest states to adopt the approach of bringing these vehicle owners directly to court in the interest of public safety and more effective enforcement of road traffic laws,” he said.
Previously, about 85 per cent of foreign nationals taken action against under the Foreign Driver Operations in Kelantan from January until June 18 were from the Rohingya community.
Monitoring and enforcement activities found that most of them were detected driving without valid licences, as well as committing various other offences under the Road Transport Act 1987. – BERNAMA
