Traffic offenders who fail to settle summons targeted in ops

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IPOH City Council (MBI) has launched a hunt for habitual traffic offenders who refuse to pay their fines.

Datuk Bandar Datuk Roshidi Hashim said the operations, which started yesterday, was targetting offenders who had failed to settle their summonses despite being issued several warnings

He said MBI enforcement officers would be on the ground, looking out for the vehicles on their list.

He said an apparatus known as “kunci kompaun” (compound lock) would be fixed on the car’s side mirror.

A sign of default: Ipoh City Council licensing and enforcement division director Abdul Halim Saad demonstrating how the compound lock is fixed on a car.

He added that some of the defaulters had accummulated summonses numbering as many as 50 each, some of which dated back to 2008.

“The device will be affixed to vehicles belonging to those who have a large number of outstanding summonses.

“In order to remove the device the vehicle owner must come to the council’s enforcement unit, pay the outstanding summonses as well as an additional RM50 fine to get the compound lock removed.

“Although one can still drive the vehicle with the device attached, the public will know that this particular person has outstanding summonses,” Roshidi told a press conference after the council’s full board meeting on Monday.

The mayor had in July cautioned offenders who kept ignoring MBI’s traffic summonses that the council would be taking action against them.

He was quoted then as saying that the council was considering blacklisting these motorists, clamping their tyres or affixing an apparatus on the driver’s side mirror, a method used by the Subang Jaya Municipal Council in Selangor as a warning to errant car owners and it had proven to be successful.

Roshidi stressed that MBI was taking such action to highlight to the motorists that they could not ignore or treat the summonses lightly and most importantly, that the motorists must respect the law.

“Currently the council had listed the registration numbers of 724 vehicles, compared to 1,200 four months ago,” he added.

Offenders beware: An Ipoh City Council enforcement officer holding up compound locks for cars.

MBI Licensing and Enforcement division director Abdul Halim Saad said that if the defaulters still failed to pay their summonses despite the compound lock on the vehicles, the council would take the next step of clamping the car tyres.

He said the council’s first target group was motorists who had failed to settle their summonses amounting to 50 and above.

“We will find them at their regular hangouts based on our list today.

“While fixing the apparatus we will also advise them to settle their summonses.

“I hope they will listen to our advice. Otherwise we will have to take more drastic measures such as clamping their vehicle tyres or, in the worst case scenario, haul them to court,” added Abdul Halim.