City taxi operators warned to get their services registered

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
Port Moresby operators running btaxis without public motor vehicle licences have been warned to register their services and vehicles.
National Capital District task force commander Mark Mosinakave told The National that they found out during their foot patrols at Gerehu and Morata last week that many taxis were operating with fake registration and without a PMV licence.
“We managed to impound 20 vehicles at Gerehu and 15 at Morata during our patrols,” he said.
Mosinakave said they impounded those vehicles on the grounds that their engine number did not match the number on their registration sticker.
Many of them were using fake plate numbers and others were using stolen motor vehicles.
Mosinakave said some PMV buses, like taxis, did not have proper safety stickers.
He said many taxis and PMVs were cautioned and let off “because they blamed the transport board for not processing their licences quickly, despite them making payments”.
“That’s why we could not just arrest them,”Mosinakave said.
He said the fault was with the transport board for not looking into the issue when taxis played an important role in in the city.
Police have been doing foot patrols and setting up checkpoints in the city mainly to curb car thefts in Port Moresby.