PETALING JAYA: PLUS Malaysia Bhd will pay for the installation and maintenance of 11 new traffic surveillance cameras along accident-prone stretches of the North-South Expressway
This will be in addition to the 19 cameras operated by the Road Transport Department (RTD), according to Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar.
Kamarudin said the 11 Automated Awareness Safety System (Awas) cameras, will cost RM3 million. They will be installed in the next few months.
The RTD will eventually take over the maintenance of the cameras from PLUS, he told a press conference after witnessing the handing over of 10 Honda CRVs from PLUS to the department at Persada PLUS, here yesterday.
Kamarudin said a study on accident-prone stretches of the highway was already under way and is expected to be completed within the year. “One of these stretches is the Menora Tunnel in Perak,“ he said.
He said there has been a significant drop in the number of accidents since the cameras were installed. For instance, there were 14,384 accidents in 2017, which was a 1% drop compared with 2016, but from 2017 to 2018, the number of accidents dropped by 8%.
He said the fatality rate also dropped. In the first quarter of 2019 there were 4,037 deaths, which is a 7% drop compared with the same period last year.
Kamarudin attributed the reduction in accidents along the highways to greater awareness among motorists that they are being monitored by enforcement agencies.
PLUS managing director Datuk Azman Ismail said the integrated operations by the RTD and other enforcement agencies have proven to be effective.
The vehicles, which cost a total of RM1.3 million, were presented to RTD deputy director-general Zamakhshari Hanapiah by Azman.
On another matter, Kamarudin said his ministry has yet to hold discussions with the Finance Ministry on the proposed exit levy.
The Departure Levy Bill 2019, which was passed by Parliament last month, seeks to impose a RM20 fee on every person departing Malaysia for another Asean country, and RM40 for those travelling to other parts of the world.
