VEP to be used to check unpaid summonses

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Shaharuddin (seated centre), flanked by Mohd Syafiq (right) and Maya, in a photo call with JPJ officers after the press conference yesterday.

MIRI: The Road Transport Department (JPJ) is looking to implement the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) at Sungai Tujoh Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) here to ensure that foreign-registered vehicles leaving the country do not have outstanding summonses.

JPJ director-general Dato Sri Shaharuddin Khalid said the VEP is a permit issued by the department under Section 66H of the Road Transport Act 1987 with a one-off payment of RM10.

He said upon registration, a non-transferrable radio frequency identification (RFID) tag will be issued that uniquely identifies each vehicle.

“Through VEP, we will register all vehicles coming in and out of our border and before the driver goes out of the border, we will find out if there is an outstanding summons or not.

“If there is, the driver will have to settle the summons before being allowed to leave Malaysia,” he told a press conference at JPJ Miri office yesterday.

On summonses imposed by Brunei authorities on Malaysian vehicles with tinted glass, Shaharuddin said it is best for Malaysian drivers to follow the rules of the country they are in.

“It is their (Brunei) law and we must respect it although it is not the same with our rule, where tinted glass for vehicles is allowed within the specified visible light transmission (VLT) rate of 70 per cent for windshield, 50 per cent for front left and right windows, and 30 per cent for rear windows.

“The Brunei Department of Land Transport requires 70 per cent VLT, and this is something we need to respect and follow,” he said.

Shaharuddin, who is on a working visit to northern region JPJ offices, said the department will begin to station its officers at the Ba Kelalan CIQ complex starting this May.

He revealed that in 2017, there were 16,790 people recorded entering Malaysia through the checkpoint and 17,427 leaving the country, while in 2018, the number of entry and exits was 19,613 and 19,466, respectively.

On personnel integrity, he stressed the department would review every procedure and work practice to identify any loophole that could be exploited.

“We have set up a special committee led by the director of our integrity division, which will look into all procedures and work practices to identify loopholes that allow corruption to occur,” he said.