Penang local councils have taken to task the company involved in providing the state's Smart Parking System, which was supposed to kick off on Saturday.
State executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo urged the Subang Jaya-based company to explain the hiccups and absence of availability sensors via smartphones which were promised to drivers seeking parking lots.
Accompanying Jagdeep at a press conference in Komtar today were Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Yew Tung Seang and Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) president Rozali Mahmud who were upset with the company for its slipshod work.
"We view this seriously as we want this project to be a success. They must ensure their mitigation plan succeeds and deliver this project to us," Jagdeep told Malaysiakini.
The company, HeiTech Padu Berhad (HeiTech), was paid RM115 million to install sensors on 647 council parking lots in Penang which were made available to the public on Aug 18.
In May, HeiTech inked a seven-year concession with MBPP and MPSP but to date, only 30 sensors were fixed on the island, while none were completed on the mainland.
HeiTech was supposed to manage 36,000 of the state’s local council parking lots by August next year, and it will enjoy 65:35 profit sharing for the first five years (35 percent to the councils) and 60:40 in the final two years.
Based on an audio recording made available to Malaysiakini, Yew and Rozali expressed their disappointment that the company failed to honour the contract's terms.
HeiTech executive vice-president Abdul Halim Md Lassim has apologised for the glitches in the parking system and inconvenience caused.
Since its launch on Sunday, 11,000 motorists have registered with the app, which is currently only available on the Apple iOS.
Malaysiakini tried downloading the app from Google store but it was not available yet.
Halim claimed that 212 parking fees were paid up using the app and 56 on the mainland, despite not having “parking sensors” installed there at all.
"Those on Google’s Android phones will receive a RM5 free credit for the first 10,000 users once it is made available," he said without giving a deadline on the app availability.
Those with issues or feedback can ring the Penang Smart Parking support at 03-8026-8128 or email support_psp@htpsmartsolution.com.my. To download the app, visit psp.penang.my.
Meanwhile, one of the system's fiercest critic is DAP's former Tanjung MP Ng Wei Aik who ranted on Facebook that the smart app "is not smart".
"Now is already 2.47am, the second day after the launching of Penang Smart Parking, PSP app still cannot be downloaded after more than 26 hours of waiting...Is this still being called as Penang 'Smart' Parking?" he asked. - Mkini
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