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80,000 car number plates flown in to cushion crisis
Some of the 81,000 ordinary car number plates that were flown into the country on September 8, 2024. PHOTO | KARIM MUYOMBO
What you need to know:
- The new consignment is aimed at mitigating the shortage of the ordinary.
A consignment of 81,000 ordinary car number plates was last evening flown into the country in a bid cushion the ongoing shortage.
The country has faced the crisis over the past three weeks.
Mr Elvis Ssekyanzi, the executive director of GM Tumpeco, blamed the shortage to the repeated postponement of the roll-out of digital number plates, which created uncertainty in the supply chain.
“Our contracts with the Ministry of Works and Transport were short-term to align with the expected transition to the digital system. With the government extending the launch date multiple times, we received temporary permission to continue production. However, this short-term arrangement did not provide adequate time to replenish stocks,’’ Mr Ssekyanzi said yesterday at the Entebbe International Airport shortly after receiving the new consignment.
New contractor
Adding: “As there's a new service provider taking over the number plates, we've been working on short-term contracts, typically three to four months. These short contracts pose challenges in the supply chain and sometimes manufacturers cannot deliver on time.
“This is why we're experiencing a shortage. Our contracts are too short, making it difficult to manage the manufacturing process, which requires a minimum of four months' notice for production and another two months for delivery.”
He also explained that in a bid to mitigate the biting shortage, they had to airlift the consignment instead of shipping as it has been the practice.
“We've airlifted the number plates instead of shipping them, which would have taken longer. Today's flight (yesterday) will bring in over 15 pallets, containing over 80,000 plates, equivalent to seven tonnes or seven vehicles. Normally, these would have come by container from Mombasa, but we've flown them in to ensure the public receives their number plates promptly,” Mr Ssekyanzi added.
“By tomorrow (today), if everything goes well, the number plates will be available, and we'll clear the existing backlog,” he added.
Big questions
President Museveni last Thursday, while closing the two-day coordination conference between the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution and the Criminal Investigations Directorate, demanded for answers on why the digital number plates haven’t been rolled out as he anticipated.
“What happened to the digital number plates, because I was very excited about it? Who is handling?” the head of State demanded to know.
Defense
But in response, the Security Minister, Mr Jim Muhwezi, under whom the digital number plate project falls and that of Work ministry, said they had a meeting the previous day with the investor who assured them of having the project rolled out before end of the year.
“Your Excellence, it is true that my ministry and that of works are spearheading this project, but we are working with others, including the police. The science of the digital number plates is correct, in fact, recently, the police car was stolen and taken to Kenya, and it was recovered because it was fitted with digital number plate,” Mr Muhwezi said.
