GEORGE TOWN – Additional procedures and harsher punishments for “samseng jalanan” (street thugs) under Section 81(1) of the Road Transport Act 1986 need to be put in place to eradicate such activities at the grassroots level.
These matters were summarised today at a Penang police contingent level strategic planning meeting held with several departments and agencies, to combat illegal racing and the mat rempit (illegal motorcycle racers) phenomenon.
Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said his team’s conclusion was that the role of the prevention and enforcement committee should be continued as well as improved regarding several matters including in terms of legislation related to illegal racing.
“We agree that the authorities should increase the procedures and penalties under Section 81(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 so that stricter measures are applied to mat rempit and there should be specific laws on parents, guardians (of street thug offenders) and spectators (bystanders).
“Our proposal is also to increase the rate of fines on motorcycle modifications and enact a law so that action can be taken against workshops that modify vehicles.
“All proposals will be submitted to the higher authorities, namely policymakers in Putrajaya and then brought to Parliament to enforce so that strict action can be taken against mat rempit and street thugs,” he told reporters here.
Shuhaily was met after chairing the meeting, which was also attended by representatives from the Road Transport Department, Environment Department, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, local authorities, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), state Education Department and Islamic Religious Affairs Department.
Elaborating further, he said since the establishment of the committee to combat mat rempit activities in July last year, authorities have found that their (mat rempit) activities are on the decline and there are no more large-scale illegal racing activities in Penang.
He said since last July until yesterday, a total of 76 mat rempit, aged 16 to 36, had been arrested by police and a total of 5,009 summons were issued in 206 operations conducted throughout Penang.
“Currently, there are 13 hotspots where mat rempit gangs gather to race illegally and the police always conduct operations in these areas to stop these activities,” he said.
He added that police have collaborated with USM in conducting a study on how to combat the mat rempit menace at the grassroots and he believes the involvement of other agencies is also needed to eradicate the activity. – Bernama, April 19, 2023
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