JEDDAH, 29 May — The Passport Department in Madinah has refused to renew a woman’s passport because she has not paid the fine for renewing her driving license though women are barred from driving in the Kingdom, Okaz reported yesterday.
The passport officials demanded Matar Al-Zailaei, husband of the applicant, to pay the fine at the Traffic Department so they could issue a renewed passport to his wife who needs to travel abroad on an emergency.
Matar, who had never taken his wife to Riyadh in the past, was confused and surprised as the computer at the Riyadh passport office showed that the violation was recorded five years ago in Riyadh!
However, the passport officials inisted that they would first consult the Madinah office for clarification.
Matar wondered how an offense pertaining to driving license could be registered against a woman while the Traffic Department never issues driving licenses to women. He also asked who would be responsible for the indefinite delay to the family’s overseas journey.
Lt. Col. Mohsin Al-Radadi, director of Traffic Department in Madinah, admitted the possibility of errors creeping in while copying some numbers. As soon as mistakes are discovered they are rectified, he added.
Al-Radadi also pointed out that there are several women who own cars in the Kingdom. In such cases there could, though seldom, be a mix-up related to violation involving car registration. He has promised to rectify the error expeditiously.
In a related mess-up, Jeddah traffic police fined a Saudi for not renewing his driving license which was actually valid for several more months, Al-Madinah reported yesterday. The five-year license issued over four years ago will expire only in September, said Muhammad Al-Qarni, the victim of the traffic officials’ strange oversight.
He was issued with a ticket marking his violation when he was heading for his office in the morning hours at the Tahliah Street-Madinah Road intersection. He tried his best to convince the traffic official who handed him the ticket that the renewal date was months ahead.
The officer, who would not listen, gave him one of the two choices: either admit the violation or have the license impounded. Since it was getting late for his office, he accepted the slip and hurried away, Al-Qarni said.
