PARLIAMENT The Dewan Rakyat has passed a motion to enable the Finance Ministry to invest RM10 million to set up a company to acquire the operators of the Automated Enforcement System (AES), despite providing little details on the compensation involved.
AES Solutions Sdn Bhd, a company wholly owned by the ministry, was meant to take over from the AES’s operators.
The opposition MPs objected to this mostly on grounds that the motion does not detail the terms of the acquisition and compensations.
The opposition MPs objected to this mostly on grounds that the motion does not detail the terms of the acquisition and compensations.
Both Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara) and Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) repeatedly pressed the government to reveal the compensation for Beta Tegap and ATES to no avail.
"The government should shelve the motion and provide the house with the full details of the acquisition and compensation clauses, before deciding to set up the new company," said Mahfuz (right) when debating the motion. He said both operators were estimated to have purchased 300 speed cameras for a total of RM717 million, of which only 14 were installed and used but now the new company set up by the ministry will purchase another 310 cameras.
"As this involves a big sum of taxpayers’ money, the government needs to inform us what the compensation like like, and the status of AES," he said.
He urged the government to reveal the five years AES concession contract, which was rejected by Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan, who claimed this is prohibited under the Official Secrets Act.
Contract to remain secret
Mahfuz then said the government can still declassify the contract, but Ahmad Maslan waved it off.
"The government in fact agreed to reveal the contents, but the companies didn’t agree," he said when pressed repeatedly, adding the under the Companies Act 1950, the contract only can be made known with consensus from both sides.
Pua then pressed Ahmad Maslan (left) to reveal the part on compensation, but was also ignored.
The deputy minister said the financial and legal committee under the ministry had appointed a consultant to conduct due diligence pertaining to the acquisition of both companies.
"The report was out and has been tabled to Parliament, but the contents can’t be made known," he said, adding that the quantum of payment is still not determined.
He also claimed that the AES had helped reduce the number of fatal accidents by 36.8 percent.
He added that motorist with their AES summons pending in court still have to pay the compound.
Pua then pressed Ahmad Maslan (left) to reveal the part on compensation, but was also ignored.The deputy minister said the financial and legal committee under the ministry had appointed a consultant to conduct due diligence pertaining to the acquisition of both companies.
"The report was out and has been tabled to Parliament, but the contents can’t be made known," he said, adding that the quantum of payment is still not determined.
He also claimed that the AES had helped reduce the number of fatal accidents by 36.8 percent.
He added that motorist with their AES summons pending in court still have to pay the compound.
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