Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said he will settle his outstanding traffic summonses and urged other ministers to do the same.

Explaining how he ended up being on malaysiakini 's list of federal ministers with unpaid summonses for traffic violations, he said: "As you know, I don't drive the cars, others drive.

"So, I don't know the car had been summoned and the people responsible didn't tell me," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

"Many of these are personal cars driven by others I'm not aware of. Whoever's name is on the list, we'll take action to settle the summonses. We'll settle this matter," he added.

On Monday, malaysiakini reported that Najib was number six on the list with 67 summonses since March 1999 amounting to RM7,820 in total compounds after reduction.

Topping the list is Works Minister S Samy Vellu with 143 outstanding summonses amounting to RM17, 460.

He is followed by Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn (121), Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar (115), Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin (93).

Based on a check of online traffic user search site rilek.com.my , malaysiakini discovered that 18 ministers have accumulated a total of 918 unpaid summonses among them over several years, mainly for speeding.

The clean 5

Only five ministers had no summonses listed against their names. They are Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Maximum Ongkili and Abdullah Md Zin, Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, Federal Territories Minister Zulhasnan Rafique and Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

Three others settled their debts after their situation was highlighted .

They were Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who had 11 summonses , Women, Family and Community Development Minister Sharizat Abdul Jalil (23) and International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz (10).

Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman, who had 28 recorded against her name, has yet to pay six of her summons.

More than RM2.82 billion remain uncollected in traffic summons issued between 2001 and 2004 to some 9.4 billion drivers nationwide. Ops Warta IV is underway until Aug 5 to clear the backlog.

See full list of cabinet members and their unpaid fines