It's outrageous to frame criminal charge against parking fees defaulters

KOTA KINABALU, July 10, 2010: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has taken Wawasan Ikhtisas Sdn Bhd, the city's parking fees collection company to task for classifying parking fees defaulters as criminals.

Describing it as abusive and a form of victimization, SAPP Information Chief Chong Pit Fah called for an immediate review of such an excessive treatment and intimidation to the motorists.

Speaking to reporters in a news conference held at the party's headquarters in Bornion Centre, in Luyang here today, Chong claimed to have received numerous complaints from affected motorists of late, complaining over such an action.

They also supplied him with copy of their summonses issued by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) on behalf of Wawasan Ikhtisas.

"We in SAPP are shocked to see that cases of unsettled parking fees classified as a criminal case. It is stated so in the City Court car park summonses.

"The motorists are not stealing, robbing, or committing murder, so where's the crime? It is simply outrageous to label people criminals just for unsettled parking tickets," he said.

He quipped that this must be a terrible joke especially comparing it to the heinous crimes committed by those corrupt politicians and leaders who looted the nation's wealth, as alleged by former managing editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal, Barry Wain in his book "Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times".

Chong said SAPP viewed the action to issue summonses and label parking fee defaulters criminals as an attempt to intimidate the people.

"We want to know the jurisdiction of the City Court? Is it for trying criminal cases?" he asked.

He charged that Wawasan Ikhtisas, the company contracted by City Hall to issue parking tickets was acting beyond its scope in taking action against those who had failed to pay their parking fees.

In the same breath, he questioned the propriety of City Hall acting as Wawasan Ikhtisas' 'arrears collecting agent' by issuing the summonses (using its letterhead) on behalf of the company.

"How come City Hall is collecting the unsettled parking fees on behalf of Wawasan Ikhtisas when it has already privatized the parking fees collection to the company? Is this part of the contract? If this is the case, then why bother to privatise the service to the company in the first place? Why can't the City Hall run it? Why should it share the parking fees collection with the others?" he questioned.

Chong who is also SAPP Kepayan CLC Chairman further slammed that since the privatization of the city's parking service to the private company, not only that there hadn't been much improvement to the service but it had victimized and traumatized many innocent motorists with dubious parking charges and summonses.

He said this was especially true where there had been complaints reported in the past where even an excavator that was all the time operating in the jungle and a motorcycle had been issued with parking tickets.

He then contended that if City Hall can revoke its garbage collection service agreement with a private company, the Pacific Garbage Management Service (PGMS) in the past, there is no reason the same cannot be done for the car park fee collection service.

Towards this end, Chong urged Resource and Information Technology Development Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai to take the lead to demand the state government to terminate the parking fees collection service contract and to revert it back to City Hall, since he had been championing the issue right from beginning when he was in the opposition.

"The car park fee issue was Yee's pet subject when his party (Parti Bersatu Sabah) was still in the opposition but now he rarely touches on it when he is in the government.

"Why is he (Yee) silent now? When he was the Kota Kinabalu MP in the opposition, he campaigned aggressively asking the people not to pay the parking fees.

"Now I believe most of these motorists who are being summoned and labelled as criminals are due to his call," he said.

He also demanded to know what Yee's stand is on the issue now.

"He (Yee) is one of the state government's decision makers, so he should let the people know what is his stand now, whether he has changed his stand after joining Barisan Nasional," he said.

Chong further contended that Yee who is currently the Api-Api Assemblyman should be speaking up for the motorists since many of them had followed his advice in the past, adding that he should not only portrayed himself as their 'champion' when he was personally affected like when he had a parking fee collection booth in Lintas Square dismantled, a few months ago.

"Just because the collection booth was nearby his office, he wasted no time in raising the matter at the cabinet level and got it dismantled," recalled Chong.