Cops want driver reprimanded ‘for good’

 POLICE say that the driver of the Bulolo health centre ambulance that crashed at Nadzab Airport, was given back his licence a week earlier, having fully served his penalty.

His licence had been suspended for three months, from last Oct 20 to Jan 21, for careless driving, in which he hit a man at New Camp along the Bulolo Highway.

Sgt Fred Lelesi of Bulolo police station said the particular driver should no longer be allowed back on the road and his driving licence terminated for good.

The driver, from East Sepik, had gone to Nadzab airport last Saturday night to pick up the Bulolo district administrator Nimsen Kibisep, who was returning from holidays at his village in West Sepik.

While at Nadzab, the driver crashed into a lamp post, causing an estimated K100,000 in damages, Bulolo MP Sam Basil said.

Basil, in a citizen’s arrest, had taken the driver a couple of hours after the accident to the Lae police station  for police to arrest and charge him.

Basil had also raised the point that the driver’s licence was suspended for three months. He suggested that there may have been some foul play in the giving the driver back his licence.

But Bulolo police denied that.  

“There is nothing sinister or crooked about the traffic officer’s release of his driver’s licence,” said Lelesi.

“His suspension was over and he was given back his licence.”

Basil has in the meantime called upon the national government to have the National Road and Safety Authority (NRSA) set up central road traffic data base to monitor drivers around the country.

He said it would ensure that the police road traffic officers identify careless drivers if and when they would like to go to other provinces or change names to get new licences.