I am sometimes fascinated by the number of different issues discussed in the various media houses every morning, but I am amazed at how these issues are not further investigated. It seems as a country we enjoy talking than acting.

I followed a very sensitive issue discussed on Peace FM about a month ago, and I have been waiting to see if anything would be done about it, but I am shocked at how the issue has been laid to rest without either a follow up by the journalist or a response from the authorities. I am referring to the issue of FAKE NUMBER PLATES IN GHANA.

I would like to start by educating the public on the importance of number plates so we will understand the gravity of the issue at stake. The number plate is not for decorative purposes but serve 3 main purposes. It is for identification, security and revenue.

The number plate enables the authorities to identify a particular car with a specific number. That is why it is not transferable. When a car is involved in an accident, the authorities are able to identify the owner with ease.

It is also for security, so that any car involved in a crime one way or the other can be traced with ease. And this is where I would like to emphasize. It is also for revenue purposes where government can put some taxes on the price of a number plate or put margins if the government manufactures and issues the plates.

In the story carried by Peace FM about a month ago, two people have been licensed to bring in the reflective sheet for the number plates in Ghana. There was a strange and low quality material in the system, which both licensed suppliers have denied bringing into the country, but this material has managed to find its way into the market without the authorities notice.

Now I would like us all to critically examine what is happening and tell me if somebody is doing his work well or not. But I want us to go a little bit into history.

The number plate business was structured previously in the following manner. The License Plate Manufacturers sourced for their own reflective sheet and manufactured the plates by putting the reflective sheet on a metal plate.

They then sold it to Embossers. What happened was, when you visit DVLA to register your car, they only gave you the number and you the car owner would have to go to any embosser for them to put that number on the blank plates that they bought from the number plate manufacturers. This system saw a lot of low quality materials being used as reflective sheets to the disadvantage of car owners.

Because the material was of low quality, the reflectivity fades within a short time and car owners have to pay for a replacement. Not only that, because there was no standards, people were making fake plates for criminal activities with ease.

The number plate manufacturers and embossers were the ones losing because it was easy for people to fake it and they were also blamed for issuing plates for criminal activities. These two interest groups approached the boss of DVLA, the then DVLA to discuss and find a solution to the crisis.

After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that a securitized reflective sheet was the only solution to protect both the business and the public. After a lengthy search, they found an American company which manufactures very high security products including securitized reflective sheets. This company made samples of the materials and was approved by both DVLA and the number plate manufacturers.

I have done some interesting research about the security features that where put in by this American company. They have a three line wave like feature in the material called the ENSURED VST. This security feature can never be faked anywhere in the world. Please google this word "ENSURED VST" to ascertain the truth in my assertion. This is forward and progressive thinking. The reflective sheet that DVLA bargained for was comparable to any sheet in Europe and America and was among the best in Africa. This not only secured government revenue but also ensured public safety as criminals could not have access to these materials for their activities.

Now, let me come back to the security implications of number plates. It would amaze you to know that more than 70% of criminal activities involve the use of cars and the number plate is the number one means by which security agencies are able to track the activities of criminals.

How many people during robbery in their neighbor's house would have the courage to go out and take a look at the robbers so they could identify them in future? By just looking through your window to write down the car numbers is enough and also makes the neighbor safe. Robberies, terrorist activities and narcotics are carried out mainly by the use of cars. Any security officer would tell you that the number plates of cars facilitate their investigations.

Now let us go back to DVLA and the story carried by Peace FM. Two companies have been licensed to import and supply the number plate manufacturers with reflective sheets. The one from the American company is already known and the new company that was just recently licensed has come out to say that, they only brought in samples but did not bring in any stocks to sell and have not sold any material to any number plate manufacturer. Who then brought in this cheap and low quality material and how did it pass through DVLA without the authorities noticing it was fake. How come that after more than a month that this issue came up, DVLA has not issued any statement and the police have also not come out to tell us of their findings. Further more, what makes this issue easy to investigate is the new system put in place by DVLA for control and monitoring purposes.

As I write now, the new system is that, the number plate manufacturers buys the reflective sheet from the two licensed suppliers, cut the metal plates and put the reflective sheets on and sends them straight to DVLA. DVLA then gives out these blank plates to the embossers to emboss a specific range of numbers and return them to DVLA. DVLA now issues these numbers to car owners by themselves.

Dear reader, how is it possible for an unauthorized material to go through DVLA twice without notice, when the intension of this new supply system is for control and monitoring purposes. Did somebody take advantage of the opening up of suppliers to bring in their own material through the connivance of some DVLA officials? I think this calls for a national security investigations. I am sure somebody will say, why bring in the national security. Now let me explain how serious this issue is.

Because of this opening up of the system for people to use non securitized reflective sheet, any criminal can duplicate your license plate for crime and if he is not caught in the act but the police or witnesses happen to identify the car number plate, then you the innocent person would be picked up not only for questioning but possible prosecution. I am sure you still think this is not that serious.

Now imagine armed robbers happen to snatch a black Benz and decides to go out for robbery. They stand by the road side and sees somebody driving a another black benz with a particular number on the plate. They pick this number and make a fake of this same number for their criminal activities. Now in the course of the crime, the police arrive just before they speed off but they get away.

If the police manage to put down their plate number and decide to search for this black benz during their investigations, this innocent man would be picked and because the police or eyewitnesses saw the exact number plate that you have, it would take God for you to be declared innocent. Thousands of people all over the world have found themselves in prison for crimes they did not commit.

The interesting thing about this issue is that, I did my own investigations at DVLA and was amazed to know that the DVLA boss has requested for a sample of this low quality and fake material to be sent to the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) for testing. Do you smell a rat? How can you send a fake material for testing, when even the source is not known.

Now let me educate my friends at DVLA and the general public. BRRI only tests the reflective quality of a material and does not do anything about the security features. Even any Chinese reflective sheet will pass the reflectivity test. The issue is not about the reflectivity, it is about the security of Ghanaians. Security comes with cost. We cannot go back to the dark ages when our reflective sheets were not securitized and criminal activities were on the increase.

Again, Peace FM carried a chemical testing on both materials at their studios and the results were mind blowing. I also decided to do the same testing myself to be sure that there was some truth in their reportage. Again, I was left dumbfounded. In this fake and low quality material was printed the Ghana flag, GH, DVLA and LIPMA. All these printings could not stand the chemical test. It would amaze you to know that every single print on the material from the American company stood unchanged by the chemical testing. Dear reader please apply mentholated spirit on both materials and ascertain for yourself the truth.

My research revealed that the features in the material from the American company was not printed but it was made as part of the material. This means unless the material is cut, the GH, Ghana flag, DVLA and Ensured VST cannot be cleaned. This is what I refer to as quality security. My chemical test on this fake material revealed that all the features on it were screen printed with very low quality ink.

Let me conclude on the DV and DP number plates. There used to be a Ghana Flag and GH and all the security features on these plates but for some reason, this year, we are not seeing those features. My understanding is that because they are for temporary use there is no need for all these security details. But the question I ask myself is does crime take place over two days or a week.

Crimes are planned for may be a week or more but the actual act s committed within hours and that is any car on our streets whether it is for a day or two should have all the necessary security features to make it difficult for criminals to fake it.

Do you know that your number plate is as important as your passport and I can even confidently say that number plates are even more important when it comes to security? How many crimes are committed with the use of fake passports as compared to crimes committed using vehicles. I strongly believe someone is compromising our security for personal gains.

I therefore call on the honorable minister for transport to investigate this issue for public safety. We are all at risk.

Source: Kwaku Bonsu, Dansoman