Drive to curb misuse of gov’t vehicles shifts into high gear

AMMAN — The government is keen on stopping the misuse of government vehicles during and after official working hours and on holidays, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said on Thursday.

Heading a meeting of the ministerial committee and the technical committee to control the movement of government vehicles, Razzaz said that current measures send a “strong message” to citizens that the government is “serious” in this regard. 

Such procedures not only have a positive impact on the administrative level, but also play a vital role in preserving public money, the premier stressed, as reported by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The prime minister also highlighted the importance of ensuring the accurate application of the e-tracking system for government vehicles, the first phase of which included 5,000 vehicles, and the second phase, currently being implemented, includes 8,500, bringing the total to 13,500 vehicles representing the entire government fleet. 

For his part, Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs Sami Daoud said that in 2019, the government “has not bought any vehicles”.

Following field visits nationwide by the technical committee, Daoud said that a decision has been made to withdraw 430 vehicles and scrap 907 others, prior to selling them. 

The minister added that the Prime Ministry has handed over 41 vehicles to the General Supplies Department and other departments that can make use of them.

Daoud said that the committee is currently considering a decision to invest the money from selling these vehicles in public auction to buy electric cars and substitute all gasoline vehicles with electric cars so as to cut down fuel and maintenance expenses.