Awqaf Min. calls for withdrawing driving licenses of drug abusers

CAIRO – 20 March 2019: Minister of Awqaf Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa called Wednesday for withdrawing the driving licenses of drug abusers and addicts to preserve the safety of people.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, Gomaa added the government should apply strict measures on drug abusers and addicts in order to protect the Egyptian citizens.

The minister pointed out that the matter should not stop at the end of the abuser's service as a government employee because the damage will continue to exist even if he worked as a private driver or drove his own car.

"I suggest that an obligatory medical test should be taken whenever drivers are issuing or renewing their driving license," he added.

Numerous accidents have recently taken place in Egypt due to drivers using drugs, most notably the Ramses Station accident.

The driver of the train locomotive that killed 20 people in February in Cairo's Ramses Railway Station after crashing into the platform was a drug addict, according to deputy head of the Parliament's Transportation Committee Mohamed Zain.

"The head of the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) told me that the driver, who caused the locomotive explosion, was suspended from his work for six months due to drug addiction but he returned after servicing the [administrative] punishment," Zain told Egypt Today, adding the driver should now be referred to the prosecution.