The Burmese government’s Department of Transportation, known as Ka Nya Na, has begun issuing a new form of motorbike license, called the 17/ Ya, to the members of all states and divisions in Burma. The new licenses will allow their owners to drive all over the nation, except in the cities of Rangoon and Naypidow, where only government agencies and select organizations are allowed to own motorbike licenses.
The issuance period for the new licenses in Mon State began on December 1st of 2009 and will last until January 31st of 2010. The new license differs from the regional Ka Nya Na motorbike licenses issued in Mon State in 2008, in that the Mon State Ka Nya Na motorbike licenses only permit their owners two drive within the state’s limits. Individuals who wish to obtain the new 17/ Ya licenses must travel to the Department of Transportation office in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State.
While the new 17/ Ya licenses allow motorbike drivers almost unlimited access to the rest of Burma, many motorbike drivers in Mon State are finding the cost of the document to be prohibitive.
“The cost to get one of the new licenses is the same price as the cost of a new motorbike. So, only a few people are getting them. Many people got them when the [Ka Nya Na] made the old licenses. Now a few people are getting the new licenses,” a Moulmein motorbike-taxi driver who purchased a new license explained.
IMNA’s field reporter learned that the cost of the new 17/ Ya licenses in Moulmein depends on the motorbike model of the license owner. Possessors of motorbikes made in 2006 or after must pay 620,000 kyat for a new license, while the owners motorbikes produced before 2006 must pay between 300,000 and 400,000 kyat. The Mon State Ka Nya Na licenses issued in 2008 cost between 180,000 and 260,000 kyat.
“You can drive around all of Burma, but the cost is larger. So nobody wants to get the license. If compare the old license, the only a few people are getting a new one,” said the motorbike-taxi driver from Moulmein.
IMNA’s reporter also learned that owners of the regional Mon State Ka Nya Na license may exchange their licenses for the 17/ Ya license, for a fee of 25,000 kyat.
The low rate of 17/ Ya license purchases in Mon State has resulted in backlash from local authorities. A Mon youth from Thanphyuzayart Township reported to IMNA that state traffic police have been monitoring the Moulmein to Ye highway that crosses Mon State. Drivers are being routinely stopped and checked, and individuals who don’t have their licenses with them are being fined over 5,000 kyat, and forced to purchase the new 17/ Ya license.
“Now the traffic police are arresting people who have no licenses with them. If they are caught [without a license] they will get punished. Sometime the police ask 5,000 and 10,000 and 20,000 kyat,” he told IMNA.
Mon state residents are also unwilling to purchase the new license due to police extortion. Many individual feel that paying the extra funds for the new license will still fail to protect them from paying extra money to the state police force.
“Nobody wants to get a new license because the cost is larger. After we get the new license, the traffic police still make problems. They ask for money. So the new license is not important,” a Moulmein University student explained to IMNA.
