MP questions secrecy over AES agreement

This was in a Parliament response to DAP's Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, who asked the ministry the details of the contract with private concessionaires and the status of the AES at the moment.

Lim cried foul over this "lack of transparency" as he said it was not right that all the terms and conditions of the concession were classified and secret documents.

"Is this a national secret? Even MPs cannot have a copy. This flies in the face of our government's transformation programme," said Lim, who urged the acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to reveal to the public details of the agreement.

Since the implementation of the AES in September last year until June 11 2013, as many as 673,339 summonses have been issued. Of those, 45,294 were for beating the red light and the others for speeding.

According to the Ministry's Dewan Rakyat reply to Lim, the total compounds collected have exceeded RM20 million.

There are currently 14 AES cameras nationwide in operation. Another 1,079 have not been put up.

Yesterday, Hishammuddin announced that the government is mulling the possibility of taking over the operation and enforcement of AES from private concessionaires. He will head a steering committee to study a proposal which includes the possibility that the project will be handed over to a government-owned company.

However, Lim today asked:" How much will the government compensate the companies? I will raise this in parliament again during the next sitting."

Since its implementation, the AES has courted controversy, including questions of the project being awarded tk to Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd and ATES Sdn Bhd.

In December last year, the Attorney-General's Chambers suspended all court cases related to the AES, including the prosecution of offenders.