Ragan M. Conteh

The Managing Director of Autospect, a private institution in Sierra Leone, Mr Muhieddine Itani, has informed Members of Parliament of the Committee on Transportation and Aviation about  revenue generation of the institution for 2023.

He disclosed that, MC Plates were sold at NLe 80, resulting in a direct loss of revenues for SLRSA that exceeds NLe 600,000.

SLRSA New Plates Revenues in 2023 was over NLe 1.8M, and MC license e average sales price was NLe 209, resulting in a direct loss of revenues for SLRSA that exceeded NLe 3M and, he said, SLRSA License Revenues in 2023 was over NLe 10 Million.

He added that the MC fitness average sales price was NLe78, resulting in a direct revenue loss for SLRSA that exceeds NLe 1.5M.

SLRSA Fitness Revenues in 2023 were over NLe 6 million and the total revenue loss for SLRSA amounting to NLe 5.1 million.

He noted that such could have been avoided if the prices had been adjusted earlier, resulting to NLe 23.6m revenues instead of the actual NLe 18.5 million.

The Managing Director also informed the committee that MC Plates’ selling price was adjusted to NLe 240, resulting in an increase in SLRSA revenues exceeding NLe 800,000.

The SLRSA New Plates Revenues Estimate in 2024 is over NLe 2.2 million.

On the licensing aspect, he said, the MC License selling price was adjusted to an average of NLe 700, resulting in a direct increase in SLRSA revenues that exceeded NLe 2M.

The SLRSA Licence Revenue Estimate for 2024 is over NLe 12 million.

He continued that the MC Fitness selling price was adjusted to an average of NLe 250, directly increasing SLRSA’s revenues exceeding NLe 2.5 million.

SLRSA Fitness Revenues in 2023 were over NLe 9 million, which resulted in a total revenue increase for SLRSA amounting to NLe  5.3 million, which was gained based on the MC category adjustment with estimated total revenue for SLRSA.

He disclosed that Life Card issuance started in early January 2024 and will contribute to SLRSA revenues by an estimated total cost of NLe 5 million, resulting in an SLRSA Life Card Estimate of over NLe 5 million in 2024. He said the estimated total revenues for SLRSA for 2024 are over NLe 29 million compared to NLe 18.5m in 2023.

He acknowledged that the increase is mainly due to the launch of the new life card, adjustment of MC category prices, and adjustment of discounted commercial vehicles.

In 2023, the Managing Director also updated the committee that the total number of newly registered vehicles was 33,320, of which 21,587, or 65%, were motorcycles.

However, he said, the same ratio drops to 24% only during renewal, i.e., there is an urgent need for law enforcement to increase the compliance ratio as soon as possible.

In the goal of increasing national security and boosting SLRSA’s revenues, the Executive Director said the authority shall introduce pre-registration for all motorbikes at QE Port and borders before exiting and taking it to dealers.

“The importer gets an NRA certificate for each motorbike (Vehicle License Slip).”

The importer should present the Vehicle License Slip issued by NRA to SLRSA, SLRSA Pre-Registers the motorbike details (VIN, Type, Model, Color…), SLRSA issues a certificate, a prerequisite for the administrative documents required to register the motorbike for the first time, any motorbike without a pre-registration certificate from SLRSA will be penalized, which the importer/dealer should settle in favor of SLRSA, allowing him to continue the registration process.

He said the vehicles for fitness would be presented in two phases: Phase 1 for new registration vehicles only and Phase 2 for the entire fleet within 4-6 months after Phase 1.

He noted that this step would help integrate “fitness” as a necessity for the vehicle fleet in Sierra Leone while increasing road safety and public awareness.

He assured the committee of a continuous campaign to raise public awareness about vehicle fitness’s importance and will introduce and demonstrate the new SLRSA products and services.

He also requested the committee’s support in helping raise awareness for the institution.

“A dedicated team from Autospect, in collaboration with SLRSA, started checking the requirements of each station in order to renovate and ameliorate the working conditions of the staff and citizens,” he assured.

The Committee expressed elation and satisfaction with the presentation of the Autospect report and the institution’s facilities.

The oversight climaxed with a tour of the facilities and a group photo.