KUALA LUMPUR: The problem of 60,000 abandoned vehicles in townships and cities nationwide will soon be a thing of the past with the amendment of the Road Transport Act.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said, once the act is amended, local councils will soon be able to remove abandoned vehicles within their jurisdiction.
The Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2018, was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat today (Monday).
Loke said the problem of abandoned vehicles is a longstanding one and has been hampered by a lack of viable solutions.
“Currently, we only have the vehicle registration process. With the amendments, it will better facilitate the vehicle de-registration process.
“This will help address the problem of abandoned vehicles. Many local councils are facing this problem in many residential areas,” he said.
The local councils, he said, cannot tow away abandoned vehicles when their registrations are still valid.
“It is a problem that we acknowledge has created a nuisance,” he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby.
He said the government wants to simplify the de-registration system to allow local authorities to dispose of the abandoned vehicles.
Records, he said, showed that there are over 60,000 abandoned cars nationwide.
The amendments will also empower the RTD to de-register vehicles whose chassis numbers have been tampered with.
Meanwhile, the amendments will also empower the mayors of nine city councils to appoint their own uniformed traffic wardens to help with the traffic situation in their respective cities.
He said the city councils are in Ipoh, Alor Star, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Penang, Johor Bahru, Melaka, Kuala Terengganu and Iskandar Puteri.
Currently, only Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Putrajaya City Council are permitted to have traffic wardens.
On another matter, Loke said the ministry aims to introduce a new measure which would see a fee or charge imposed on those who have obtained approvals to use tinted glass on their vehicles.
Exemptions, he said, would be given to those who need to use tinted glass due to their medical conditions.
Loke said the government is also seeking to impose a nominal fee on car manufacturers for the Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) process.
The VTA is a process where car manufacturers submit a comprehensive list of specifications for their vehicles, from the name and address of the maker, engine, weight, weight distribution, name and type of all components, for approval before the vehicles can be sold in Malaysia.
This is usually done to ensure that the manufacturer complies with a minimum level of safety and regulatory requirements.
The government, said Loke, currently does not charge any fee for the process and inspections.
"We will now charge a nominal fee to cover the administrative costs borne by the RTD," he said.
He gave his assurance that it would not lead to a hike in car prices as the VTA does not cover individual vehicles, but vehicle models only.
He said an announcement would be made soon on the mechanism and fees for all the measures. He expressed hope that the amendments would be passed and gazetted for enforcement by Jan 2019.