The Ministry of Police will soon be in charge of licensing and registering motor vehicles in Samoa.  

This was confirmed by Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, in his response to questions from the Samoa Observer. 

“Yes and I have already addressed this issue with Radio 2AP many many times,” said Tuilaepa.

The licensing and registering of vehicles is currently overseen by the Road Use Management Division of the Land Transport Authority (L.T.A.), which also checks the details of the vehicle and conduct inspection according to road safety standards, including road safety awareness programmes.  

Last month Cabinet approved the transfer of the traffic division from the L.T.A. to the Ministry of Police, following an appeal from the Commissioner of Police Fuiavaili’ili Egon Keil. 

But the Minister of Works, Transport and Infrastructure, Papali’i Niko Lee Hang, said last week in an interview that licensing and registration of vehicles are major revenue sources for the L.T.A. 

He noted that from the Cabinet directive, all functions of the traffic will be transferred to the Police aside from the L.T.A. Traffic Officers, but also the parking meters, driving licences, registration and licensing of motor vehicles. 

Papali’i said about 40 L.T.A. traffic officers have not been transferred to the police.