Yesterday, Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said that the ministry hoped to table the problem of old traffic summonses issued under the Automated Enforcement System (AES) to the Economic Council chaired by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, by next week.
This was not the first time Hishammuddin has talked about wanting to settle the status of old AES summonses (which were issued before September 18) and his yesterday’s announcement means further delay to resolve the issue and further wait for those who are looking forward to a refund.
Why is there another delay? Perhaps it is time to ask the question -does Hishammuddin have the time and ability to take charge of two Ministries?
Perhaps it is time that Hishammuddin should only be in charge of Defence Ministry so that he can therefore focus more time in ensuring safety of Sabah coastline.
In September, he was reported to say that that the status of the old summonses would be decided by the Attorney General’s Chambers on the possibility of a write off.
Then on October 21, Hishammuddin had said the issue would be discussed at the Cabinet meeting at the following week
Nothing has happened except for yesterday’s announcement.
Now that the body which will decide on the status of old AEC summons has gone from AG Chambers, Cabinet to Economic Council, let’s hope there will be no more delay.
According to a written parliamentary reply given to Segambut Member of Parliament Lim Lip Engon July 17, this year, a total of 673,339 summonses were issued to 628,045 motorists for speeding and 45,294 for running the red light. Summonses worth more than RM20 million had been collected.
When answering my parliamentary question on October 22 , the Ministry stated that as at October 8, 2013, a total of 882,298 AES summons have been issued. Out of this total, 91, 457 summonses have been settled. RM 27, 437, 100 has been collected.
Comparing both answers, we can see that in less than 3 months , additional 208, 959 old and new summonses were issued.
I wish to repeat my call on the government to write off the unsettled summonses worth more than RM 200 million and to refund the collection totaling more than RM 20 million because in addition to the legal issue which had caused the authority to halt court prosecution, when the AES was implemented in September last year, there was a lack of publicity to inform the public neither were there adequate and large signboards erected at camera locations to warn approaching motorists.
There should also be a comprehensive review on the question of AES locations since there have been complaints that some locations marked have unrealistic speed limits.
The AES quantity to be installed should also be reviewed. So far, only 14 cameras have been installed, yet in one year alone; close to 800,000 summonses have been issued.
With more than 800 cameras being planned, it will be speed traps everywhere. Is this practical?