- Are you [XY]?
- Yes
- You are is blocking the entrance to my shop
- Excuse me? What shop
- Cremino
- Where?
- Haret Hreik
- My car is parked in Hamra
- Is it silver?
- Yes
- It is blocking my shops entrance
The above conversation took place at 15:30 the day before yesterday between an employee in the aforementioned shop and a citizen. Turns out that the employee had requested the assistance of security personnel so as to acquire the car owner’s mobile phone number.
The whole story remained ambiguous to the alleged car owner who thought that this was just a misunderstanding. However, the citizen’s car was still parked in Hamra whereas his interlocutor insisted that it was blocking the entrance to his shop.
“May I know the make, model and plate number of the car? Mine is right here in front of me,” said the flabbergasted man.
During a third call, the car turned out to be bearing a fake plate number and set as a suspect vehicle until military experts inspect its content. After panic attacks and nerve wrecking hours, the vehicle was inspected and found to be explosives-free. While the car owner remained absent, the citizen asked a friend of his called Rabih, go to head to Haret Hreik, and to make sure that the fake plate number is removed. Once there Rabih even contact his friend, telling him that the car owner has returned and was in a near-by mall. Further details showed that the woman was a close acquaintance of a high ranking officer as calls flooded the security personnel telling him not to incarcerate her.
25 minutes an officer contacted the citizen asking for personal and occupational details assuring him that the issue will shortly be resolved as there was a technical problem.
ISF Division of Public Relations chief Joseph Mousallem noted that the initial adopted procedure would be through thumping all illegal number-plate production and controlling vehicles bearing plates as they could be means to terror aims. The difficulty resides in actually distinguishing the suspect car should the make and model match the legally registered vehicle.
Thousands of illegal plates are said to roam the streets of Lebanon as frail security remains subject to volleys of pellets and shrapnel. Special legal workshops are set in various regions to produce such number plates, all you have to do is show up with your car and hand your vehicle’s paper to receive your plate.
The best solution resides in actually restricting plate production to the state and adopting the RFID system as has been done in various crisis-ridden states, hence allowing the immediate recognition of illegal vehicle on the street.
