KDEBWM Explains High Number Of Outstanding Summonses

SHAH ALAM, June 26 (Bernama) -- KDEB Waste Management (KDEBWM) has clarified that its large-scale operations, involving more than 1,500 vehicles across Selangor, are among the reasons the solid waste management and public cleansing company has the highest number of outstanding traffic summonses.

Its managing director Datuk Ramli Mohd Tahir said KDEBWM’s business model involves providing vehicles such as compactor lorries and roll-on roll-off (RoRo) trucks to appointed subcontractors; as such, any traffic offence involving these vehicles results in summonses being issued under the company’s name as the registered owner.

He said that as a wholly owned company of the Selangor government, KDEBWM takes responsibility in creating a more transparent business ecosystem by supplying the necessary vehicles to subcontractors to ensure optimal cleanliness throughout the state.

“When KDEBWM was mandated to take over the management of domestic waste and public cleansing in 2016, we adopted a different business model that had not been practised before — making major investments in asset procurement.

“Once the lorries were procured, we handed them over to appointed vendors or companies. Since KDEBWM purchased the vehicles, our name is registered as the owner on the vehicle grants,” he told a press conference here today.

Yesterday, the Transport Ministry released a list of 11 commercial vehicle operators and 17 express bus companies with the highest number of outstanding traffic summonses.

Minister Anthony Loke was reported as saying that among the companies listed was KDEBWM, with 22,017 summonses.

Commenting further, Ramli said that for each offence committed, whether by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) or the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), summonses are issued directly to the driver. In such cases, drivers are supposed to forward the summonses to the companies or vendors employing them.

He said a breakdown in the communication chain — such as drivers failing to inform their employers — had resulted in summonses being accumulated under KDEBWM’s name. This is despite the fact that, under contract, the appointed subcontractors are responsible for any summonses involving their drivers or vehicles.

“When the summonses are not settled within three months, JPJ will send registered notices or reminders. That’s when we become aware of the offences, and by then, all the summonses are already recorded under KDEBWM’s name.

“Imagine we have 1,500 lorries, operating non-stop every day, including weekends and public holidays, to ensure the best service for the people. If there are just two summonses per lorry per day, we could be looking at 3,000 summonses in a month and 9,000 over three months,” he said.

To address the issue, Ramli said KDEBWM is considering amending its agreements with subcontractors, including tightening clauses related to penalties and compounds for those breaching contract terms. This comes as similar issues continue to arise despite several contracts already having been terminated in the past.

He added that this explanation was necessary to shed light on the root cause of the outstanding summonses, which have impacted KDEBWM’s transparency and integrity. At the same time, it provides an opportunity to address underlying weaknesses.

On the total number of summonses, Ramli said KDEBWM will meet with JPJ to obtain accurate figures. A check on the MyJPJ platform earlier today showed that the number of active summonses against KDEBWM stood at 14,332, lower than the 22,017 announced yesterday.

As for payments made, he said that RM146,890 had been paid this year to settle 1,237 summonses. Since KDEBWM began operations in 2015 up to June this year, a total of RM2.38 million has been paid for 23,235 summonses by the company and its subcontractors.

“For the remaining outstanding summonses, we are committed to settling them within the 14-day timeframe given. We will also increase the frequency of retrieving summons information from JPJ to once every two weeks, compared to once a month previously,” he added.

-- BERNAMA