The Road Transport Department (JPJ) has no immediate plan to emulate the police in giving discount to traffic offenders, Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha said.

lim kit siang parliament pc 201008 kong cho ha "At the moment, the JPJ is sticking to the existing system," he told reporters after attending the ministry's monthly gathering in Putrajaya today.

He was asked to comment whether the department would provide discount to traffic offenders to clear arrears in summonses.

Kong ( right ) also said that the JPJ had no plan to extend the grace period given to blacklisted traffic offenders to renew their road tax and licence by Feb 28.

Underwater tunnel to Singapore

In another development, Kong said he would meet his Singapore counterpart in January to discuss the proposed construction of an underwater tunnel for the rapid transit system (RTS) connecting Tanjung Puteri in Johor and Woodlands in Singapore.

Malaysia and Singapore agreed in May last year to jointly develop the 1.5km RTS, which is expected to be operational by 2018.

In his speech at the event, Kong said the urban public transportation initiatives under the Government Transformation Programme, had begun to show results.

He added that the number of people switching to using public transport in the Klang Valley had increased to 17 percent, recording up to 368,000 riderships during the morning peak hours.

"Studies on the usage of public transportation during the nine-month period this year also found an increase in the number of light rail transit users, at 2.6 million.

"This goes to show that the quality of our public transportation has improved and is becoming more efficient," he said.

- Bernama