In the face of the current disgraceful "flying licences" debacle, the Transport Ministry should reconsider its plans to privatise the Road Transport Department (JPJ), a Gerakan leader said today.

Party vice-president Dr S Vijayaratnam said the fact that more than 100,000 such licences have been issued by the department gives rise to concern, adding that graft of this magnitude is staggering.

"Instead of privatising JPJ, the authorities should seek ways and means of improving the operations from within and, most crucial of all, eliminate all avenues for corruption," he said.

He added that there was no point in transferring corruption from the public sector to the private sector.

Vijayaratnam said privatising the department need not necessarily produce the desired result, citing as example the privatisation of the vehicle inspection department which he said has not proved to be a successful venture.

He was commenting on a report carried by New Straits Times today quoting transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik as saying that the plans to privatise the whole of JPJ will proceed but delayed until all corrupt officers are weeded out.

Vijayaratnam added that not all privatisation ventures of the government have proven to be the right decision as some have not demonstrated improved efficiency as hoped, while others have needlessly burdened the public with increased rates.

He said the government must assess and carefully study the implications of privatisation and ensure that it is done by open tender.

It is believed JPJ would still be better off under the public sector, said Vijayaratnam.

He also called for the government to give top priority and funding to expand and improve the operations of the Anti-Corruption Agency so that additional manpower and clout are given to the agency.

Privatisation postponed

It was reported in June that JPJ's privatisation plan will be postponed to Nov 1 this year due to the incomplete amendments to the 1987 Road Transport Act and that only several divisions of the department were up for privatisation.

Urusdaftar Automatif Berkomputer Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the DRB-Hicom Group, is expected to take over the department.

Ling also confirmed yesterday that the whole department would be privatised and that the process could take some time as he wanted the department to be clean of corruption when it is privatised.

In early August, ACA arrested in Perak six JPJ staff, a doctor, 14 driving school owners and runners for running a syndicate selling learner licences.

About 100,000 learner drivers are believed to be holding these illegally obtained L-licences which they had bought by paying between RM400 and RM1,500 without undergoing various tests.

The syndicate is believed to have made more than RM40 million over the past five years. The ACA moved in to smash the syndicate following a 10-month investigation.

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