The National Traffic Police (POLTRANS) are unable to work effectively due to a lack of transport, therefore national MP Manuel Castro has urged the government to purchase more cars.
He said the traffic police only had one car despite the number of incidents increasing daily.
“With one car they cannot cover all places as they cannot handle two cases in different places (for example in Colmera and Comoro) at once,” he told the National Parliament.
To ensure their professionalism, he said the government must provide more cars, including adequate equipment.
He said the community needed a quick and efficient service and the government must take responsibility for facilitating and improving this system.
In response to the issue, Acting Minister Longuinhos Monteiro said the government wanted to create better conditions, but it depended on the budget available.
“It depends on the budget that we have and this year the government’s policy has been to reduce the funding, so we just have to go along with it,” said Monteiro.
He said if the current government did not manage to fix this problem, maybe the next government would resolve the issue.
Dili resident Manuel Guterres said POLTRANS often arrived late, particularly traffic accidents.
“Sometimes they come after the perpetrator [of the accident] leaves [the scene],” he said.
