PKR's William Leong; Harakah misreported

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR treasurer William Leong denied saying an MCA-linked company will be getting a share of profit made from fines on traffic offenders this year, claiming that Pas newsletter Harakah has misreported.

He told The Mole the news report featured in the Harakah has misreported his statement.

“I did not allege that the company is linked to MCA. I just wanted MCA leaders to tell me whether they know who Datuk Arianta Alikusno is, as he had been given a contract from Health Ministry then.”

The report stated Arianta as one of the directors for Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd.

Datuk Ahirudin Attan in his latest blog post wrote Leong should be telling people not to break traffic law instead of suggesting that there's an evil conspiracy to sue the people and let half of the proceed from the fine to go to some companies linked to a political party.

In another blog post at Rocky Bru’s Page 2, Ahirudin wrote: “Prove to us that the said project is not going to work, that it is not tried and tested elsewhere and that Malaysia is the guinea pig, and we'll listen.”

Leong maintained his stand and questioned why authorities were not given the power to manage the Automated Enforcement System (AES) instead of two private companies Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd and ATES Sdn Bhd. 

Leong who is the MP for Selayang said: “My questions are simple, why can’t the traffic police and Ministry of Transport be given the power to handle the fine system? Why give it to these two private companies?”

Leong further said: “This contract only allows these two companies to make profit. Why can’t the authorities handle the project.”

Insisting that the authorities should be given the power to manage the system, Leong also said: “We will keep highlighting this issue and let the public decide whether this is good for them.”

“There will be more revelation.”

When asked to comment on the fact that there are reportedly 90 countries which had implemented the system, Leong responded by asking: “Why didn’t people take notice of claims that it doesn’t work?”

“Nobody is going against the improvement of road safety, especially traffic offenders. However there is no sure way the road safety will improve when some rich people who can afford to break the law will be able to pay their fine.”

“What about those who can’t afford it? They will go to jail. I think we must have a system which will be fair to all,” he said.

Source: MOLE