Melaka JPJ alarmed by the high number of foreigners it has detected driving around without a licence

The Melaka road transport department (JPJ) says that it has detected a high number of Rohingya riding or driving vehicles without valid licences in the state. According to state department director Muhammad Firdaus Shariff, from January to July this year, no less than 63 individuals from the community have had their vehicles confiscated for driving without a licence.

He described the situation as alarming, as The Star reports. “This is troubling, as it poses risk to other motorists, while JPJ is only empowered to confiscate the vehicles and issue summonses,” he told reporters at the department’s headquarters in Bukit Katil yesterday.

He said that in an operation on Wednesday alone, the department came across 19 Rohingya who were utilising vehicles on the road without driving licences. “My men managed to detect these foreigners within only two hours of the operation that started at 5 pm and ended at 6.45 pm along routes surrounding the Melaka Sentral bus terminal,” he said.

He said apart from the Rohingyas, eight Bangladeshis and one Pakistani were also found to be on the road without valid driving licences, while 10 of these vehicles had no insurance coverage after the road tax expired. “I believe we would be able to detect more of such cases if we conducted more operations throughout the state,” he added.

During the operation, 23 motorcycles and two cars were confiscated under Section 64(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, while a total of 35 vehicles were checked.

Muhammad Firdaus said foreigners must understand that having a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card does not qualify them to drive or ride without a licence and they should follow the rules in this country. “Locals should stop lending or selling their vehicles to illegal immigrants or foreigners without proper documents,” he added.

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