Bloc voting called after uproar over AES

Continuous interruptions during Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha's winding-up of the ministry's committee-level budget debates pushed the matter to bloc voting twice today.

Both opposition and government MPs had stood up for clarification in succession of each other throughout the minister's reply, particularly on the controversial Automatic Enforcement System (AES).

After a barrage of interruptions, mostly by Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena - right) and Fong Poh Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah), the minister chose to just read through the prepared reply and sat down, indicating he had completed his winding-up.

This was despite voices raised from both sides of the divide, including from Idris Haron (BN-Tangga Batu) and Teo Nie Ching (DAP-Serdang).

The matter was then put to voice voting, but both sides voted for and against equally.

As such, the speaker accepted the application for a bloc voting for both operational and development expenditure, with the matter passed by 29 and 31 votes majority respectively.

BN MPs were spotted rushing back into the House when the bell was rung to signal a bloc vote.

"You cheer on the rakyat being summoned. AES - angkara engkau semua(AES - all your fault)," retorted Mahfuz during the bloc vote.

Among others, the MPs called for the terms of agreement with AES contractors Ates Sdn Bhd and Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd to be made available to parliamentarians. 

This was to see if the contracts were fair to the government and that the system is not motivated by profit, they said. 

‘Not a cash cow’

However, the minister said that it is “absolutely untrue” that the AES was a cash cow as the agreement even caps the companies’ return on investment to not more than 17 percent. 

Kong said the government does not guarantee profits, cash advance or bailouts to the companies. 

He added that the three-step formula to calculate payments made to the companies was also formulated by university experts commissioned by the ministry. 

“The formula is to ensure the sustainability of the project, including sustainability of cash flow so that the companies can provide the service without problems,” he said.

Kong also said that the government chose to outsource the project as it felt this had a greater likelihood of success.

“Take the (DBKL-run) Integrated Transport Information System, which met its objectives in the first few months but rain into problems which affected the operations,” he said. 

The minister, however, did not reply to Fong and Mahfuz who questioned why the government is taking the AES route when statistics show that most fatal accidents involve motorcylclists. 

“But according to the Road Transport Department enforcement director, the AES does not apply for speeding motorcyclists,” Mahfuz said.