KUALA LUMPUR – Transport Minister Anthony Loke has refuted circulating social media claims asserting that the Road Transport Department (JPJ) is operating with minimum quotas for fines to be issued during the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive season.
“I want to advise people not to blindly trust reports from social media, especially when the reports are viral. Not all the reports from social media are truthful; please check the facts first,” Loke said.
“Our principle is to reduce road accidents, our KPI is to reduce the number of road accidents in Malaysia, not to issue as many compounds as possible,” he said.
Loke was speaking to reporters at the Southern Integrated Terminal during his visit there in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.
The viral message posted recently alleges JPJ’s commencement of a nationwide Raya operation spanning 20 days, from April 1 to April 20.
The post claims that a key performance indicator has been set, involving at least 13,000 traffic summonses and a minimum of 1,500 fines for motorcyclists.
However, Loke clarified that there was no specified KPI assigned by his ministry for the operation.
“That is a false statement, fake news. I urge the public not to trust it. We measure our KPI by how many people are safe during their travels, not the number of citations,” he said.
Loke insisted that JPJ’s primary responsibility was public safety. While enforcement efforts will be in place for road safety during the operation, the focus is not on maximising summonses but on ensuring compliance with traffic laws, he said.
“But if the person stopped is found guilty, then a citation or ticket will be handed out, but not due to an imaginary KPI,” he said. – April 2, 2024