BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

MEMBERS of the public are now required to make an advance reservation for vehicle inspection to reduce waiting time and prevent long queues that were seen earlier this year.

Land Transport Director Dr Hj Supry Hj Ladi said the new system will start on June 4, but members of the public can start making reservations on Saturday, May 9.

“This new booking system is for private cars that have been in use more than seven years. For BG cars and commercial vehicles, it’s still the same process,” he said in a press conference yesterday.

The director said reservations can be made through the Land Transport Department’s (LTD) hotline at 2448009 or at Lorong 7, Vehicle Inspection Centre, at the LTD headquarters in Beribi.

He added that the department is currently working on setting up an online reservation system.

“It is one of the ways the department is doing to make it convenient for members of the public. We are still testing and doing trial runs to make sure it will work and prevent any major hiccups.

“InsyaAllah our target is to complete it within a month and we will announce once it is operational,” he added.

Dr Hj Supry said the department is introducing the new system because it has observed irregularities in the number of vehicles that came to the inspection centre in the past few months.

The department received about 100 cars during the second and third week of the month.

“However, it shoots up to 200-250 during the first and fourth week of the month. There was even a time in February that we received 300 cars a day,” the director said.

He explained that the department came up with the new system to evenly allocate the number of inspected cars of 100 to 150 cars per day.

“We inspect about 6,500 to 7,000 vehicles monthly at the LTD headquarters alone.”

Dr Hj Supry said the new reservation system would ease the waiting period for motorists.

“The new system will also improve the inspection’s effectiveness and the use of the department’s human resources will be more regular and systematic,” he added.

Senior Car Inspector Hj Saiful Nairal Azlan Hj Hassan said vehicle inspection includes visual inspection, chassis, break light, engine number, signal light, brake pads, tyres, glass and body work (exter-nal and internal), among others.

For Belait and Tutong districts, Dr Hj Supry said the department is targeting the new system to start in July.

Members of the public are advised to turn up 15 minutes before the inspection.

The Brunei Times