Green light for controversial speed camera system

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Putrajaya can finally implement the controversial Automated Enforcement System (AES) to nab traffic offenders with the passing of the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2010 in Parliament today.

The amendments enable the authorities to use snapshots from the speed camera system as court evidence to punish motorists for traffic offences.

During debates on the bill, opposition and independent backbenchers raised hue and cry over the controversy surrounding the likely tender award of the system to two firms that will allegedly use faulty technologies to run the AES.

The lawmakers urged the government to reveal the AES’ financial model, which they claimed would likely see the concessionaires earning hefty profits.

Wee Choo Keong (IND-Wangsa Maju) challenged Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakri to reveal the profit-sharing system between the companies and the government in the new system.

“What is the percentage of the summonses that will go into these companies pockets? Answer me. You never answered me on this,” he charged in the House.

But Abdul Rahman brushed aside Wee’s questions, claiming that he had already addressed his queries during his earlier debates.

Datuk Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) also joined in on the verbal war, questioning if the AES contractors would earn commission for every summon they issued on traffic offenders.

Abdul Rahman however insisted that the AES was not aimed at helping the companies make hefty profits but was to deter motorists from deliberately committing offences.

He added that the AES would provide 24-hour enforcement to aid the authorities and protect law-abiding motorists.

“We also hope that we can reduce the high rate of road accidents. There are at least 300,000 children that have lost their parents because of road accidents,” he said.

Abdul Rahman admitted that the current manual system had loopholes and allowed the authorities to commit corruption.

When Wee asked why the government had awarded the tender to two questionable firms, Abdul Rahman insisted that no Letters of Award (LOA) had been issued yet.

To a question from Mahfuz, he told the House that the AES system would also be equipped with signages to inform motorists of the presence of the speed cameras.

Mahfuz then questioned if the 15 billion unpaid summonses to traffic offenders should then be cancelled as the current speed camera system did not have such signages.

“I was talking about the AES, I said that in the AES system, there will be signages,” Abdul Rahman insisted.

After a nearly three-hour debate session the amendments were passed via bloc voting with 71 votes by Barisan Nasional backbenchers and 41 from the opposition bench.

It has been reported that traffic offenders have chalked up to 15 million summonses for various offences in recent years. Almost 90 per cent of the tickets were issued by the police.

It was also reported that some 650,000 motorists are currently on the police blacklist for failing to settle their summonses.

At a press conference later, Mahfuz claimed that the two firms that would likely be awarded the contract to run the AES could manipulate the system by issuing fake summonses against innocent motorists to earn a quick buck.

“The government should have said that the involved company would get a percentage from the summonses and we only found out today. We also do not agree with this business model as the company would issue as many summonses as possible because JPJ or the police will not have any control over the system.

“So what is going to stop the company from issue more summonses to gain more profit,” he said.

PKR Sungai Petani MP Datuk Johari Abdul added that without proper regulations, the public would stand to suffer.

“This is a problem and we do not see this kind of financial model. In the end the government will profit and the people have to pay for it,” he said.

The Malaysian Insider reported yesterday that the AES contract would likely be awarded to two firms - Commerical Circle (M) Sdn Bhd and Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd - both of which allegedly do not possess Intellectual Properties (IPs) for their respective systems, the Redflex (Australia) and Robot (Germany).

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha had told The Malaysian Insider that the government had not imposed any deadline on the tender award but stopped short of disagreeing that the two firms would likely be chosen to set up the unmanned cameras at some 1,000 hotspots across the country.

Former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat have however confirmed that Letters of Intent (LOI) had already been issued for the companies following the live demonstration involving seven interested firms held between June 17 and July 21, 2007.

There have been complaints that both the Redflex and Robot systems were faulty and have led to millions in lawsuits abropad.

Sources told The Malaysian Insider earlier that both the Redflex and Robot systems had landed Australia’s Road Transport Authority (RTA) in the soup after inaccurate readings forced law-abiding motorists to pay traffic summonses.

One source also claimed that the US Supreme Court was once even told by a Redflex director that the company had been using uncertified equipment to win contracts and to enforce fines on motorists.

In several articles published in the Australian media, it was reported that both the Redflex and Robot systems had failed on numerous occasions.

In one 2006 article obtained by The Malaysians Insider, it was reported that Robot had to recall all 19 of its traffic cameras in Adelaide after it supposedly issued inaccurate tickets.

In another article ran by ABC News on October 18 this year, it was reported that the Victoria police had to suspend the use of the point-to-point cameras operated by Redflex on its Hume Highway after nine motorists were penalised for offences they did not commit.

Other reports also claimed that the Australian RTA had been forced to refund summonses, amounting to nearly RM9 million, to innocent motorists over the past few years.

According to previous media reports, the AES, mooted some time in 2005, was aimed at helping the government lower the number of deaths per 10,000 registered vehicles to two from 3.7 in 2007.

Besides speeding, the system is also able to detect offenders for beating traffic lights, overtaking from the left, driving over double lines, tailgating, driving on the emergency lane and even overloaded vehicles. The AES is also able to take photos of vehicles speeding simultaneously and motorcycles.

At present, there are some 17.971 million vehicles on the road.