Driving tests backlog will be cleared by end of the year, says JPJ

KUALA TERENGGANU (Bernama): The Road Transport Department (JPJ) is targeting all tests involving 462,124 outstanding candidates at 232 driving institutes nationwide to be completed before the end of this year.

JPJ deputy director-general (Planning and Operations) Aedy Fadly Ramli said to achieve the target, JPJ would increase the number of testers by up to 20 per cent depending on the needs of each driving institute.

"JPJ in each state has identified the number of candidates for each driving institute and has sent data to the headquarters in Putrajaya for us to identify how many additional testers will be sent. Currently, JPJ has 530 testers nationwide.

"Besides that, we will also increase the daily quota of candidates to be tested at each driving institute. The number varies according to the capacity of the premises.... therefore, the number of additional testers to be sent is according to the needs of each institute," he said.

He said this to reporters after visiting the Bitara Driving Institute near Padang Midin here on Sunday (Sept 26). Also present was Terengganu JPJ director Zulkarnain Yasin.

Apart from that, driving institutes are also advised to give priority to overdue candidates as opposed to new candidates completing their tests which have been long delayed due to the enforcement of the movement control order since last year.

In the meantime, Aedy Fadly said starting on Sunday, JPJ will also monitor compliance with Covid-19 prevention standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the National Security Council (NSC) for all driving institutes on a regular basis.- Bernama