Al-Riyadh I have written more than once about the importance of privatizing the Traffic Department, as I don't think traffic control is a major security issue. Of course, when criminal motives are suspected police could intervene. I believe many traffic-related matters can be carried out by private agencies. I decided to raise this issue again following a statement by Lt. Gen. Othman Bin Nasser Al-Muhrej, director general of public security, who lamented the poor performance of the traffic police. He pointed out that he could not see any change after his meeting with traffic directors last year. The security chief stressed the need for change, saying change is not impossible. I agree with Lt. Gen. Al-Muhrej's opinion about the poor performance of the traffic police, which has manifested itself by the growing numbers of road accidents and deaths caused by them annually. In my opinion the solution lies in the privatization of the Traffic Department. For example, Saher, the automated road monitoring system, has been handed over to the Traffic Department's command after the mandate of its private operator expired. Why don't we involve more companies to operate Saher in various regions and cities after inviting new tenders? The fines collected from traffic law violators can be shared between the operating company, the Traffic Department and the Finance Ministry. So the privatization move will not put any additional financial burden on the national budget or the Traffic Department. At the same time, the revenue obtained from Saher could be used to improve the department's services. We have seen people parking their vehicles in front of buildings and in the middle of roads blocking the flow of traffic. Why don't we appoint a company to impose fines on such violators and remove those wrongly parked vehicles? A traffic officer is not required to identify such violations. Private companies can also be appointed to monitor speeding on highways and parking near traffic lights, and to issue driving licenses for first time applicants. The renewal of licenses can be done through the Traffic Department's e-services portal. It will be difficult for the Traffic Department to carry out various activities on its own due to financial constraints and manpower shortage. Privatization of a number of the department's activities would solve this problem to a great extent without spending any extra riyals. Companies should be given contracts for three to five years to allow them time to retrieve money they invested in infrastructure development. Companies are required to identify traffic violations clearly without creating any doubts and pass them on to the Absher system. There are violations such as joy riding that demand the intervention of traffic police. Security agencies shall be deployed to investigate accidents with suspected criminal motives. There are possible solutions to the traffic control problem. The main violations include speeding, running red lights, underage driving, wrong parking and driving vehicles that are not road worthy. We can put an end to these problems quickly by contracting with private companies and applying advanced electronic surveillance systems. I hope the government, which foresees greater private sector participation in nation building, would discuss the issue of the privatization of the Traffic Department seriously in view of its many benefits.
