Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
KOTA SAMARAHAN: Swift action cannot be taken on illegal taxis or ‘kereta sapu’ unless there is concrete evidence, said Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
According to him, there was no law that allowed authorities such as police to arrest those who are operating illegal taxis.
“In fact, it’s not a matter of the law entirely but more of the lack of evidence to arrest these operators,” he told reporters at a press conference following the launching of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) ‘Kor Siswa Siswi Pertahanan Awam’ (SISPA) ceremony here yesterday.
Wan Junaidi was commenting on the presence of illegal taxis or ‘kereta sapu’ from Pontianak, Indonesia which are adversely affecting express bus companies in the state.
“The police can stop a ‘kereta sapu’ and query the driver and passengers in the vehicle but if they say they are family members or friends with the driver, we cannot charge them without any evidence, otherwise the police or the Malaysian Road Transport Department (JPJ) will be made a mockery of,” he stressed.
As such, Wan Junaidi suggested for the enforcement authorities to monitor such activities each day for two weeks.
“You have to station someone there during the two-week period of observation and monitor their activity everyday.
“During this observation, if the same ‘kereta sapu’ comes down from Pontianak everyday, then it makes no sense (to claim innocence) as the driver is bringing different passengers each day,” he said.
He remarked that police and JPJ can then follow up on such cases.
Meanwhile, when asked to comment on Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) 2012 Human Rights Report release on Wednesday which highlighted some issues such as deaths in police custody, Wan Junaidi expressed that the report was inaccurate.
“The report by Suaram is inaccurate because of their lack of understanding on how we work,” he said.
On the deaths in police custody, he remarked that this was not true as investigation and action was taken immediately.
“Any deaths that occur while in police custody, there will be immediate investigation on this as well as a post-mortem. However, as it would take the pathologist (time) to determine the cause of death, investigating custodial deaths would take a longer time,” Wan Junaidi added.