'Why dormant firm won huge traffic control deal?'

PKR treasurer-general William Leong has questioned the Transport Ministry's decision to give allegedly dormant company Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd the nod to operate the automatic enforcement system.

Beta Tegap will set up traffic observation cameras to detect traffic offenders in the southern region, while ATES Sdn Bhd has been awarded a similar project for the northern region.

Leong (left) who is also Selayang MP, alleged that a company search on June 25, listed Beta Tegap as a dormant company.

The company has its address registered at Solaris Dutamas in Kuala Lumpur.

He also questioned the company's capability in handling the project which he claims uses Australian technology.

"Furthermore, the government should not be privatising or commercialising enforcement on traffic offenders by raising the maximum fine, which would benefit companies like Beta Tegap."

"Efforts should be made to reduce accidents and increase safety than working out ways to profit from such enforcement methods," he said.

He also warned that the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill passed by the Dewan Rakyat recently would result in motorists having to pay much higher fines, since the minimum fine would be raised to RM300 and the maximum, RM2,000.

“Pakatan Rakyat MPs have opposed the amendment as it will be a burden to the rakyat. The BN parliamentarians have argued the move will help reduce road accidents, but we do not see the logic,” he said.

Links with the MCA   
Leong also questioned Beta Tegap's alleged links with the MCA, as reported by the financial daily The Edge.

He said a company search on Beta Tegap showed that among its directors are one Dr Andreas Teoh and his mother Yap Kim See @ Yap Ai Lin.

“A search on another company, Mediharta Sdn Bhd, which was awarded the job of providing security hologram labels for pharmaceutical products, revealed that the same Teoh and his father, Arianta Alikusno, to be directors.

“Here, we have Beta Tegap being awarded the AES job by the Transport Ministry, while the Health Ministry has given the security label project to Mediharta.”

Both companies, he said, have Teoh as director, and was it merely a coincidence that the Transport Ministry and Health Ministry are headed by MCA ministers?

Profit-sharing with the companies picked

“Hence, the MCA should explain why it awarded the project to a company owned by Teoh,” he said.

Asked whether he knew Teoh, Yap and Arianta to be MCA members, Leong said he did not know this. However, he questioned what Beta Tegap specialised in to be offered such a project.

MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek had in April denied that his party had meddled in the awarding of the contract for the AES.

Leong also quoted The Edge report that says Beta Tegap and ATES would be entrusted to install 831 traffic cameras at `black spot' areas, with the companies getting profits through a three-tier scheme.

On the first tier, the companies will be entitled to RM16 for every summons issued for up to five million summonses, while at the second tier, they will be entitled to 50 percent of the remaining revenue, capped at RM270 million.

On the third tier, they will receive 7.5 percent of the balance from summonses paid.