The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) has launched a programme to cut the time the public spends obtaining its services, with a target of completing them within a maximum of two and a half hours, NewsFirst reported.
Commissioner General of Motor Traffic Retired Air Vice Marshal Thushara Fernando said discussions have been held with all Commissioners and arrangements made to ensure the public receives services in the shortest possible time.
The problem, in the Commissioner General’s own account
The most concrete detail is Fernando’s description of the current position. People who arrive at the Department as early as 7.00 or 8.00 a.m. have had to remain there for several hours, he said, with some leaving only around 2.00 p.m.
That is a working day of up to seven hours for a single transaction, described by the official responsible for the Department rather than by a critic of it. The Daily Mirror carried the same account, attributing the same figures to Fernando.
He said the measures aim to improve customer service and reduce waiting times, and that the initiative is intended to make the process more efficient and convenient for the public.
What neither outlet explains
Neither report says what the programme actually consists of. No source describes a single procedural change — no additional counters, staff, appointment system, digital channel or process redesign is named. What is reported is a target and the fact that Commissioners have been consulted.
Nor does either outlet say when the two-and-a-half-hour cap takes effect, whether it applies to every service or only to common transactions such as licence renewals and registrations, whether it covers all DMT offices or only the head office, or how performance against it will be measured or published.
The announcement follows a separate DMT commitment, reported on September 10, to clear the vehicle number plate backlog within six months.
Context
The Department has been under scrutiny on more than service times. In June, Parliament referred a Committee on Public Accounts fraud report on the DMT to the Attorney General, and in April a former Deputy Commissioner was arrested by the CIABOC over the number plate issue.
Not reported
Neither outlet gives a start date, a list of covered services, a staffing or budget figure, or any baseline average waiting time against which the two-and-a-half-hour target could be judged. Neither reports how many people the Department serves daily, nor whether any monitoring or public reporting of waiting times is planned. Ada Derana was unreachable behind a CloudFront block and could not be checked.
